Mirror of Lupus
by EchowolfS
Summary: The winx are sent on a mission to find and free a magical mirror. After finding the mirror, it attacks, changing them dramatically and take their memories. Will the specialists be able to change them back?
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Here it is, the Mirror of Lupus. I never thought I would actually be able to see it." the old woman said. Suddenly, a bright light filled the room and a bolt of pure energy went from the mirror through the woman's chest. The pain from the blast was so intense that she passed out immediately.

When she awoke, she was confused at what had happened. Suddenly, she felt a presence at the entrance of the cave she was in. She was trapped.

"So this is why everyone who sought out the mirror never returned," another woman chuckled. "With you finally out of the way, and with the mirror's unintentional aid, Magix will soon be mine!"

The other woman's laugh frightened the old woman. What just happened? Why am I in this cave with this person, and why does my chest hurt so badly? She thought to herself.

"Now what to do with you? You don't seem to remember me, and I can hardly sense your magic anymore. You won't be any trouble anymore, so I guess you can go get lost in the woods." The woman said, the older did not move a muscle. "Oh, that's right, you now fear me! Fine, you can follow me out after I trap the mirror here for the time being. There is a certain group of fairies that must meet the mirror as well for my plan to work."

The old woman watched as the other cast a spell on the mirror chaining it in its place. As soon as she was sure the other woman had left the cave and was not waiting outside for her, she bolted into the woods. She ran until she couldn't run anymore and collapsed under a tree. Where am I? Where did I come from? All I can remember is my name and that something bad is in that cave. Please someone, anyone, help me!

After casting her spell and watching the old woman run into the forest, the woman made her way to Alfea. Where all of the students were getting ready for their spring break. Using her magic the woman disguised herself. "This is going to be too easy."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Blooms POV

"TWO MORE DAYS TILL BREAK!" Stella yelled as we walked into our dorm.

"Yeah, I can't wait! Man, the teachers have been brutal lately with the amount of homework." Musa agreed.

It was true, the teachers have been working us dry lately and no one will say why. Griselda has been extra strict, Headmistress Faragonda has been acting strange, and even Daphne has been on edge lately. But I have to admit, something is off at Alfea. There is a dark presence always close by, and if I try to follow it; it disappears.

"Bloom, is something wrong?" Flora asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. Everyone was looking at me.

"The teachers aren't the only ones acting strange, what's going on with you? You've been completely on edge, always lost in thought, and I know you've been sneaking out at night." Aisha confronted me.

"Really its nothing," I said. I don't want to worry anyone about the presence. If it was something bad the teachers, who must have already noticed it, would handle it. "I'm just tired, because I haven't been sleeping well. When I can't sleep, I go on walks." It wasn't a lie, the dark presence has been keeping me up at night; but it wasn't the entire truth. I don't want to worry them if it turned out to be nothing.

Stella was just about to say something when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Ladies, Miss Faragonda would like to see you in her office." Griselda called through the door.

"I wonder what's going on?" Tecna said.

When we entered Miss Faragonda's office, we saw the specialists waiting inside as well.

"Hello girls, thank you for coming. Now, I have a favor to ask of all of you."

"Aw man, but what about break!?" Stella complained.

Aisha elbowed her in the side. "What kind of favor?" Musa asked.

"I have received word that a magical object is trapped in a cave on Earth. the object is called 'The Mirror of Lupus.' It can be quite dangerous, but no one has been able to catch it."

"How can a mirror get trapped in a cave?" Nex asked.

"No one is sure. No one has even seen it in years," Miss Faragonda answered. "If someone managed to catch the mirror, and use its powers for evil, the user would be near impossible to defeat."

"Well, we have to set the mirror free then. That way it won't be used for evil." Sky said.

"The mirror is trapped in a cave near base of the Appalachian mountains in America." Faragonda said.

The next day we made our way to the Appalachian Mountains. As soon as we left Alfea, I could no longer feel the dark presence. But, that just made me worry.

"Are you okay Bloom?" Sky asked.

"Yeah, I'm just tired." I answered him.

"Oh, well what are you planning to do over break?" he asked.

"Well, I'm going to visit my birth parents on Domino. Then, I'm going to Earth to spend the rest of break with my adoptive parents." I answered.

"How long will you stay on Domino?"

"Maybe two days. I haven't been back to Gardenia in a while."

"Maybe I can come and visit you while you're on Earth."

"That would be great! A new amusement park opened last year just outside Gardenia, maybe we can go." I said. Both Sky and I were super busy the last few weeks and never really got to see each other. So, it would be nice to have a day with him.

"Hey look, I think that's the cave Faragonda was talking about!" Timmy said.

"Finally, my feet are killing me!" Stella complained. We walked up to the mouth of the cave and saw that it branched down two paths.

"Which way is the mirror?" Helia wondered aloud.

"If we split up we will find it faster." Brandon said.

"OK, the specialists and I will go to the left and you girls can go to the right. If one group doesn't find anything, that group will wait out here for the other group." Sky said.

The Winx and I followed the tunnel to the right into the mountains. The tunnel seemed to slope down gradually as we made our way through.

"It's getting dark, in here." Stella cast a spell and a small ball of light rose from her hand and floated ahead of us, lighting our way.

Suddenly, the tunnel opened up into a cave. In the center of the cave, chained to the back wall, was a massive bronze wolf.

"What the!?" I gasped.

The wolf noticed us and turned its head. In its jaws was a mirror. It snarled at us, and we all took a few steps back.

"The poor thing, someone has cast a spell trapping it here." Flora cried. "It isn't just a mirror, it has the soul of a wolf trapped in it!"

"We have to free it, but it's so scared; it might attack us!" Musa said.

"Maybe if only one of us approaches it, it won't be as scared." Stella suggested.

"Good idea, I'll try and go up to it." Aisha volunteered.

"Wait, I'll go. Girls, stay away from the entrance. Any trapped animal is a dangerous one."

I waited as the others moved toward the side of the cave. Then I approached it from the side, being careful not to block its view of the exit. Suddenly a bright light filled the cave, and a beam of light came from the mirror and went through my chest. Pain exploded through my body and I blacked out almost immediately. My last thought was of the others.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sky's POV

We continued down the long winding tunnel until we came to a cave. It was dark, but nothing was in the cave.

"There's nothing here, let's go back and wait for the girls," I said.

"Yeah, maybe they're waiting on us. this has got to be one of the longest tunnels on Earth!" Brandon joked.

We made our way back to the entrance of the tunnel and saw that the girls were not there. We waited for a while, ten minutes, fifteen, thirty, they should have been here by now.

"Maybe they can't free it. The mirror has never been captured before, so it must have taken a strong spell or at least a cave in to trap it." Helia said. I could tell he was trying to be optimistic for the group, but he was obviously worried.

"Well what are we waiting for? If a cave in trapped it, they are going to need some muscle to help free it." Nex said.

We started down the tunnel the girls went through, but something met us at the entrance. No, somethings.

Bloom's POV

I woke up on the floor of a cave. Why am I in a cave? I didn't have to look far to see the others out cold on the ground nearby. The closest to me was Stella. So, I went to her first.

"Stella, Stella! Are you OK?" I asked.

Her eyes fluttered open. Suddenly she screamed, causing me to jump back.

"WHAT HAPPENED!? WHERE AM I!? WHATS GOING ON!?" Her screams managed to rouse the others, but it put me on edge. Something bad happened to us in here, but what? We need to leave here fast. Then we can find out later.

"Is everyone alright? Stella?"

"I'm alive, but not happy." She answered.

"Aisha?"

"Right here," She walked up to me.

"Flora?"

"Here." She replied as she looked around the cave.

"Tecna?"

"Here."

"Musa?"

"Here, and not exactly sure where here is."

They all in one motion looked to me, as if they expected me to know where we are. Well I should know, they see me as their leader. I told myself harshly.

"I'm not sure where we are, but for now let's just leave this place." They seemed satisfied with that answer, and moved aside. So, I could lead them out of the cave. Both Aisha and Stella followed me closely, while Flora took up the rear.

Things seemed to be going fine, until we neared the entrance of the cave. I froze, several males were right in front of us. They seemed surprised and took a few steps back. Oh no, what should I do now?

Sky's POV

"What the heck?!" I said.

Standing in front of us were six wolves.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sky's POV

"What the heck?!" I said.

Standing in front of us were six wolves. The one in front and was now snarling at us was a fiery red color pelt. she also had a light orange chest, black legs and shoulders, and her eyes were bright blue. Two other wolves closely flanked her. One was yellow with golden eyes, and the other was dark brown with lighter brown markings on her face and chest. Her eyes were also blue like the red ones, but a bit darker. Two more wolves were behind them. One was obviously albino, but her eyes were blue green. The one next to her was a black blue color with a cool gray chest, and her eyes were pale blue. Lastly, behind them was a single brown wolf with a light brown, almost yellow, chest, face markings, and paws. Her eyes were bright green.

As soon as the red wolf began to snarl at us the others quickly followed. The brown one checked behind herself as the others took a step back. The wolves were trapped and they knew it. The red one took a menacing step forward and I immediately put both of my hands up. The other guys did the same, and slowly, we backed out of the tunnel and cleared their path.

The red one tilted her head and stopped snarling. She flicked her ear, and the others slowly walked ahead of her and out of the cave. She doesn't trust us enough to turn her back on us. I thought to myself. She is watching us while the others go ahead. She must be the Alpha and she was going to make sure that we didn't hurt the others; before she passed by.

As soon as the other wolves were out of the cave the red one began to walk forwards. As she passed by me, we made eye contact and she stopped. I could see curiosity in her eyes, but also a clear warning not to try anything. After what seemed like a century, the yellow wolf barked at her and the red wolf continued out of the cave. As soon as she rejoined her pack, she looked back at me. It felt like she was trying to say something, some kind of warning.I looked back at the cave, the back at the wolf only to see her and the others take off into the woods.

The entire scene felt like it took forever, but our encounter with the wolves only lasted about a minute.

"Woah," Timmy gasped.

"That was..." Brandon began.

"Intense," Nex finished.

"Wait, they came from the tunnel the girls went!" Roy said.

"Something might have happened to them, Lets hurry!" I said.

We took off down the tunnel and came to a cave. What was chained up at the back of the cave was an exhausted looking bronze wolf. In the wolf's mouth was a mirror. A weak beam shot from the mirror at me. I could barely feel it, but something flashed through my mind.

Try anything and as soon as I regain my strength, you will be wolves like your female friends!

I don't know how I heard it, maybe the beam let it share its thoughts with me? Its words turned my blood cold.

"The mirror threatened me, it said that it will turn us into wolves like it did to the girls." I said still in shock.

"What?! But that means..." Helia turned towards the entrance of the cave.

"Yes, those wolves, who feared and growled at us were the Winx." They didn't recognize us. I thought to myself. "Now, let's do what we came here to do and free the mirror. Timmy, can you put a tracker on it first, in case we need to find it again to help turn back the girls."

We managed to cut through the chains binding the mirror, when suddenly a voice came from the mirror.

"You have set me free, and in doing this task I will help every single one of you once. Just call my name into any non-magical mirror and I will come running."

It quickly left the cave and disappeared into the woods.

"Now, maybe Faragonda will be able to turn the girls back, and if all else fails, we can ask the mirror to turn them back." I told the Specialists.

"Yeah, I just hope the girls will be okay out there." Brandon said.

Basically the girl's fur is the color of their hair, except for Tecna. I wanted their fur to be natural wolf colors, so I made her albino. That way she is pink, but her fur is white. Bloom is also different with her black legs and shoulders, but that will be explained later…


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Bloom's POV

We ran until we came to a small brook.

"I think we are far enough away now, let's rest and try to figure out what happened." Aisha said. I looked at her suspiciously. "If it's okay with you." She stuttered realizing her mistake.

"Yes, that's fine, there is shade and water here. So rest while you can, we will need to find a stable den if we are to make it out here."

We all approached the brook and drank. It wasn't until my tongue touched the water that I realized how thirsty I was. I drank till my thirst was quenched. Then I decided to rest my paws in the shade. Both Aisha and Stella followed, while Flora hung back at the river. While Tecna and Musa finished drinking. We need to find a den soon. It will help the others relax a bit, knowing that we have a safe place to rest. I watched as Flora kept a look out while Tecna and Musa were drinking. It seemed that the two relaxed knowing that Flora was watching for danger. Both Stella and Aisha kept a look out while we were in the shade. I know what they are doing. If we are to make it out here I am going to need a Beta to help me, and it seems that the two have realized that. They are both are strong and smart, but I will need some time to decide. If only we had the rest of the pack here. The rest of the pack. The rest of the pack... WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER THEIR NAMES!? I tried my hardest to keep my inner panic hidden, but to no avail.

"Bloom, is something wrong?" Flora asked.

I jumped a bit; I hadn't realized that the others had joined us in the shade.

"No, I am just looking back on what happened in the cave. All I remember is my chest hurting." I said, they must not remember them either. I will keep this to myself then, there is no need to freak them out with something that they can't remember.

"That's all I can remember too. Maybe we were chased into the cave, and whatever was chasing us knew not to follow us in." Tecna said, being as logical as possible; while trying to keep calm. Tecna does not like not knowing things or getting surprised. It's what makes her such a good planner, she takes everything into account.

"If that's what happened. What if the thing that chased us there comes back?" Flora asked; I could hear the worry in her voice. Flora always worries about us. She is skilled in healing with plants, and her gentleness and understanding make her a great healer; also one of my most trusted friends.

"Simple, we don't go back to the cave, and GET THE HECK OUT OF THERE. Easy." Stella Said. Stella is one of the most upbeat wolves in the pack, and her cheerful nature and jokes cheers us up whenever we need it most. She can get out of line sometimes, but her intentions are always for the best.

"Now that that's settled, where are we going to make a den?" Aisha asked. She is always very focused on the task at hand. Only when work is done is there any time to play or relax.

"Maybe we could stray here for a while, while scouting out a den. There is water, shade, and there is the scent of rabbit and other prey all around." Musa said. She was like Aisha in work first play later. She can be distant and snap at times, but she is very kind and loyal.

I thought about Musa's suggestion. "Good idea Musa, Let's rest today and try to get our senses back. Only then we can hunt and look for a den ." I decided.

As everyone began to settle down for the day, I decided to take watch. I saw a fallen tree and sat on top of it. It had the perfect view of the others, while I could still look for danger from all sides.

Sky's POV

None of us were excited to see Daphne when we returned to Alfea. How do you tell someone that her sister has been turned into a wolf and doesn't remember us? We managed to avoid her all the way to Faragonda's office, but after we explained what happened to the headmistress. She thought that Daphne might be able to help find a way to turn them back. But before we did anything, I called Thoren. He now works at Red Fountain, so he can be closer to Daphne. Now, the two of them rented a little cabin in the woods so they could be together.

As soon as Thoren got here I told him what happened.

"Daphne is going to be devastated." He sighed. "She has been really stressed out lately, but she won't tell me what's wrong. This is not what she needs right now."

"We were thinking that you could tell her." Brandon said.

Thoren thought for a moment. "No, I wasn't there. You need to tell her Sky."

I have been trying so hard not to break at the thought of Bloom and the others, I could see it in the guys as well. Timmy was trying so hard not to cry, Roy and Nex were at each other's throats the entire trip back. Brandon has been a nervous wreck worrying about how Stella would handle being in the wild. Helia kept spacing out while not paying attention. I knew that if I faced Daphne, my girlfriends only sister, I would collapse. Sadly, I had no other choice.

Thoren, Daphne, and I were sitting in the girl's room. It was so empty without them.

"Where are the Winx?" she asked. I could see what Thoren meant about Daphne being stressed; she looked completely exhausted. I was just about to start talking when Kiko jumped into my lap. He was confused as well.

At first I didn't know how I was going to tell her, but as soon as I started talking it all came out. Where we went, How we separated into two groups, and how we found out that the girls had become wolves. As I spoke, my eyes misted up, and when I got to where we encountered the girls as wolves. I ended up crying.

She sat quietly as I told her everything, but it was like no one was home. She just stared at her hands.

"Sky, can you give us a moment." Thoren said as I finished my story.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I left the room. As soon as I closed the door, I heard sobbing. I opened the door slightly to see Daphne crying into Thoren's chest while wrapped in his arms. He was whispering something to her, but it seemed to only make her more upset.

I closed the door again, and walked down the hall. Crying had somehow cleared my mind, and I knew what I needed to do and who to go to.

Roxy's POV

I was packing my bag, excited to finally go home and see my family. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. I opened it to Sky standing there alone. I immediately knew something was wrong. His eyes were red, like he had been crying and he looked tired, but he still looked serious and focused.

"Roxy, we need your help." He said, his voice was thick but there was some resolution in it as well.

"What happened?" I asked.

"The Winx have been turned into wolves and don't deem to remember us. In being the fairy of animals, I thought you might be able to help."

At first I was shocked, but the seriousness of the situation kicked in. I grabbed my bag and took off down the hall.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Aisha's POV

I watched as Bloom kept a lookout while the others slept. She was the Alpha, but even she needed rest after the day we had. I got up slowly, trying not to disturb Flora who was sleeping next to me.

"Aisha, what are you doing?" Flora asked.

"Going to check on Bloom, even she needs rest. Especially since she hasn't been sleeping well lately." As soon as the words left my mouth, I got confused. I could see that Flora was confused as well.

"Strange, I know that she hasn't slept well in a while, but I can't remember her telling us that, or even seeing her a bit restless." Flora took the words right out of my mouth.

"Let's just keep this quiet till we can talk alone." She nodded in agreement.

I walked up to the fallen tree Bloom was sitting on. As soon as I got close, her ear turned to me.

"Is something wrong Aisha?" She asked.

"I just thought I could take over watch so you can rest." I said with my head low, remembering my slip up earlier in the day. I want to be beta, but being beta does not mean leading the pack or telling the alpha what to do.

She stayed quiet while she thought about my offer. "Please, I know it may not be my place to say this, but we are going to need you in top form tomorrow, and no one can be at their best without sleep."

She sighed, and jumped off the tree. "Fine, but wake me at dawn." I licked her shoulder respectively as she passed me. I jumped up on the tree and watched as Bloom made her way down to the others. She curled up next to Flora where I was.

Flora's POV

I watched quietly as Bloom made her way back to us and I motioned to her to lay by me. She laid down heavily beside me with a long sigh.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes, just really tired," She sighed.

She laid down her head and I began licking her shoulder with long even strokes.

"Flora, do you think we will find a good den tomorrow?" she asked me quietly. I was a bit surprised, she is normally very optimistic.

"Maybe, but the most important thing is that we still have each other, and we will always have each other. Even if we don't have a den."

"Yes, your right. Tomorrow, hunting will be our main priority. And if we stumble across a good den, we will have a new den." She said sleepily, and after a while, she was sleeping peacefully.

Tomorrow, we will be on the hunt for food, and a new home. But as long as the pack stays together, we will be fine no matter what.

Thoren's POV

I held Daphne tightly as she sobbed into my chest. I couldn't even begin to imagine how it felt to get this news.

"Don't worry, I'm sure headmistress Faragonda is already working on finding a cure." As soon as I said that she began to sob harder.

Oh Daphne, if only you would tell me what else is wrong. Maybe I could help you, I sighed.

"Come on, we can help the others later. Let's go home now, you need rest." I said.

After a while, she calmed down and we returned to our little rented house. When we got to the door, I picked her up bridal style and carried her to our bedroom. I placed her on the bed and laid down beside her. She began to cry again, and I wrapped her in my arms.

"What am I going to do? The girl, we're going to stop her. We can't stop her without them!" She sobbed.

"Shh, it's oka-... Wait, who do they need to stop?" I asked.

She immediately began to cry harder. "The impostor took almost all of our magic, we couldn't fight her!"

"Wait, fight who? Who took your magic?" I took her shoulders. "Who?!" I was begging her now. If there was an impostor at Alfea who took her magic, the other teachers, or Faragonda might be able to help.

"I can't tell! If I tell, the students will get hurt!" Her words made my blood go cold. She didn't say that someone took her magic. She said someone took their magic. And if the impostor was threatening the students, it might be another student; or even a teacher. The impostor must have taken the other teacher's magic as well. I suddenly understood why she was so stressed. If she slipped up in the slightest, her students would pay the price while she wouldn't be able to stop it.

I hugged her close and waited for her to calm down again.

When she was calm, I got up and made us dinner while she stayed in the bed. After we finished eating, she took a shower and went to bed. After I took my shower I called Sky.

"We won't be able to help much with turning the girls back, Daphne is really upset. I we also have to go back to Domino over the break."

"I understand, the reality of this just hit the rest of the guys, and none of them are really taking it well." I heard some sobbing, and the sound of someone breaking something in the background. "Don't worry, Roxy has volunteered to help us. And with her help we are sure to get them back to normal soon."

I hung up and returned to our bed room. As I laid down, I saw Daphne looking back up at me. Her eyes were red and puffy, and dark circles were starting to form under her eyes. I took her chin and kissed her lips gently.

"Get some sleep princess. You need rest if we are going to figure out what we are going to do." I whispered in her ear. She seemed to relax with those words, and quickly fell asleep.

Sky's POV

I am literally the biggest idiot in the flipping dimension. I'm probably the most stupid person of all time. If I want to change the girls back, why not ask the one that changed them in the first place!? YOU KNOW, THE ONE WHO OWES US A FAVOR ANYWAYS!

I grabbed a small mirror by Brandon's bed, probably a gift from Stella, and ran outside in the woods.

"Mirror of Lupus, please come help." I said into the mirror. Suddenly, the image of a Bronze wolf appeared in the mirror.

"What can I help you with Sky?" It asked.

"Do you remember six girls who came into the cave before my friends and me?"

"Yes, I do."

"Can you turn them back?"

The wolf stared at me for a moment, like it was thinking something over. "No, I am sorry, I cannot."

I blinked, once, twice, three times. "Why not?" I asked, completely in shock.

"When I transform humans into wolves, they lose their human nature. It may come back, it may not. It depends on the kind of person they were when they found me."

"What do you mean 'the kind of person they were'?"

"If their intentions were good when they found me, they have a higher chance of regaining their human natures."

"That's great, they wanted to free you so their intentions were good!"

"Yes, I realize that now, but it just gives them a better chance at regaining their nature."

"But, but they will turn back right? Right?!" I was growing more and more desperate.

"That is up to them, and them alone. Also, because I could not complete your task, you still have it to use at your whim."

The wolf's face vanished from the mirror, and I was still in shock. NOW WHAT!? I screamed in my head.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Flora's POV

Bloom must have been really exhausted, because she barely moved the rest of the night. The next morning, Aisha woke Bloom up at dawn, and unintentionally woke me up as well. I got up and stretched, and I also need a drink. I walked over to the stream and quenched my thirst. I looked up to see the others getting roused by Aisha while Bloom joined me for a drink. The others slowly followed and drank in turns. As the others finished drinking and waking up, I sat next to Bloom and Aisha. Bloom and I talked about what we were going to do today, but the others didn't know that our priorities changed from a den to hunting.

"Alright, listen up." Bloom said, some sleep really did her well, she was much more focused.

"Our priorities have changed, today we will focus on hunting and getting our strength back, and if we find a good place for a den while we hunt, good for us. We will split up into three groups of two, Aisha and Flora, Musa and Tecna, and finally Stella and me. We will meet back here by mid-day."

We split into our groups and headed out. Aisha wanted to be beta and was currently silently competing with Stella for the title. It was very clear that she was bothered that Stella went with Bloom rather than herself. I know why Bloom did it though, she simply matched us for how well we work together. Bloom and Stella are best friends, as are Aisha and I, and Tecna and Musa. We are at our best when we all work together, but in small groups; it's better this way.

It didn't take long for both Aisha and I to find some large rabbits. We only caught two though, but that's okay, it would be a waist to kill any could bring extra back to the others, but one of these large rabbits could hold two of us off for a day at the most.

"Wow, prey really runs well here! If we find a den near here, we would never go hungry!" Aisha said.

"As long as we don't over hunt, of course." I replied.

"Let's head back to the brook, Maybe the others were as successful as us. If there is no one there we can go look for a den by ourselves." Aisha said.

"Yeah."

Musa's POV

"Go Musa, you can get that dumb thing!" Tecna said as I chased the stupid squirrel. It made a frantic final attempt to get a way by jumping for a tree, but I managed to grab its tail just in the nick of time.

"Alright Musa!" Tecna cheered, "That was amazing!"

Tecna managed to catch a squirrel as well, but she was so quiet, it didn't know she was there until it was too late. I was not as stealthy. I ended up disturbing a leaf on the ground and the squirrel I was after took off. I nearly lost it a few times, but managed to jump for it at the last second.

"Yeah, but now I'm beat! Let's head back, no use hunting any more than we need to."

Stella's POV

It was surprisingly easy to find prey here. Bloom caught a bird while I caught a rabbit. We both caught a decent meal, so we decided to head back; but suddenly Bloom stopped. I dropped my rabbit and looked at her.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I hear something," She said.

I looked around and my ears turned where she was looking. Something was rustling in the distance. Bloom slowly crept forward towards a bush. Suddenly two birds launched into the sky, nearly scaring my fur off. I thought that was it, but Bloom continued forward. She smiled suddenly, and then dropped her bird.

"Stella, can you come look at this?" She asked. I walked forward and through the trees, and I saw it. A perfect place for a den.

We grabbed our prey and took off back to the brook where we were to meet the others.

Bloom's POV

We returned to the brook as quickly as possible to see the others waiting on us, they all had prey at their feet. This was truly the perfect hunting grounds, lots of small, healthy prey. It's surprising that there are no other packs around.

"We waited for you to get back to start eating." Musa said.

I began to eat my bird, deciding to tell the others after we ate, Stella didn't say anything either. Flora told of the place where they found the large rabbits. Musa and Tecna had us all laughing at how Musa got her squirrel, and Stella began telling of how I caught my bird.

"She practically flew after the bird, I had no idea anyone could jump that high!" It wasn't that high, but I did stumble a bit when I landed. But nevertheless, she completely skipped that.

After we finished eating and grooming each other, I decided to tell them.

"Okay, girls, I think we have found a new den while we were hunting. It's not far, and I believe it will be perfect for us." Everyone was already happy for the successful hunt, but this made them completely ecstatic.

"Why did you wait to tell us? Let's go now!" Aisha yipped excitedly, but quickly regained her composure. "It would be best to get settled quickly, and set up a territory."

I chuckled quietly, she was trying so hard to be beta, but that would mean choosing her over Stella; who also wants to beta. She worked hard for that rabbit and has been completely supporting me. Being a beta must be hard, you have to be dominant, but not too dominant That is because that would insult the alpha. How did I become alpha in the first place? I don't remember ever being beta, and I still can't remember our other pack mates. I hope I figure out what happened to us soon.

Aisha's POV

It was apparent that Stella was kissing up to Bloom. She wants to be beta, but I want to be beta as well. Surely Bloom has noticed this as well, so I have a better chance, but then again I have slipped up a couple of times and she has defiantly noticed that.

Bloom lead us through the woods and to a small opening in the trees. It was perfect. Multiple large stones jutted out of the ground making the perfect look out places. There was a large old tree with half of its roots exposed by a small overhang. Soft moss was everywhere there was shade and there was multiple places for dens in the roots of the old tree.

"Girls, our pack has found a home." Bloom said proudly. She then tipped her head back and let out a loud howl. I joined her and everyone else quickly followed. Voicing our excitement, and letting everyone know that a new pack is here, and we are not to be trifled with.

Old woman's POV

I was sleeping under a large rock, trying to forget my hunger, when I heard them. I was so happy to hear my pack mates for the first time in days, and they sounded close. I got up and followed their howls to a small opening in the woods. I nearly cried when I saw them.

Tecna's POV

We finished our howl and began to settle in when I heard something coming toward us. The others heard it as well, and turned toward the sound. Bloom leaped forwards, hackles raised, to confront whatever was coming towards the den. An old silver and grey wolf stumbled out of the woods and collapsed in front of us. Our concern for her overshadowed our joy at seeing our old pack mate.

"Faragonda?" we all gasped at once.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Roxy's POV

As I walked down the streets of Gardenia, I thought back to my conversation with the guys.

_"Wolves are naturally timid and shy around humans unless they have had previous contact with them. It is probably for the best that they don't remember that they were humans, their natural wolf instincts should keep them together and from going hungry." I explained._

_"How can you be so sure? What if they aren't doing well in the wild?" Brandon asked, he has been really worried about how Stella would cope in the wild._

_"Wolves are pack animals, they are drawn to other wolves. They are also experts at team work and will care for each other."_

_"Just like how they were as humans." Helia said softly. We all looked down to the floor and thought of how close the Winx were. No, we should be thinking of the positive right now._

_"Exactly, I think we should watch them from afar and see if they have any memories of us or their human side. If they do, we'll go from there." All of the guys agreed with me._

It was decided that since there was a National Park where they were, we would go camping for the entire two weeks at a campsite that was closest to the cave where they were transformed. Right now though, the guys are busy contacting the girl's families so they know why the girls won't be coming home for break, and I am on my way to tell my parents as well. I stopped just outside the Fruity Music Bar, took a deep breath, and headed on in.

"Roxy!" My parents called out to me from behind the bar.

"Mom, dad!" I ran to them and gave them both a big hug. "I've missed you so much."

"We have missed you too Roxy, but now we have a whole two weeks together." My heart fell at the happiness in my mom's voice. We haven't spent a lot of time together since right after mom came home, I left to go to Alfea not even three months later. And the same thing happened the year after that. I was so busy with my new friends in Magix, I barely spent any time with her.

"Well, umm…" I stumbled, not sure how to explain what happened "The thing is…"

"What's wrong Roxy?" Mom asked.

The whole story came tumbling out, I had memorized every single detail Sky had told me, and as I repeated them, I began to cry. The girls had been my only friends at Alfea for my first few months of school, and even though I had made many more friends, they were special. They taught me about magic, saved me from four power hungry wizards, and had become like family to me. Bloom especially had connected with me since she went through almost the same ordeal and come from the same home town. She was like an older sister to me.

My parents pulled me into a hug. "Oh Roxy, I'm so sorry." Mom said.

"I have to go try and help them." I sobbed.

"Of course you do." Mom placed her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "You are the fairy of animals, who better to help them than you?"

She wiped the tears from my eyes, and I felt a bit better that she was okay with me not being home over break. "When will you be leaving?" dad asked.

"As soon as the guys get back." I replied.

"Which is right about, now." I turned around to see Sky and the other guys walking through the front door.

I kissed my parents goodbye and the seven of us were on our way to the Great Smokey Mountain Nature Reserve.

Bloom's POV

It has been four days since Faragonda found her way back to us. We were all shocked when she burst through the trees and collapsed at my feet. She was half starved and very weak. We all thought she might not make it, but Flora and her knowledge of herbs somehow brought her back.

Now that we have a den, which Musa had christened the Grotto, Stella and Aisha have been less concerned about me witnessing their little competition. The two always fight about how the grotto should be set up, who should be in hunting parties, and who stays behind to watch the grotto and Faragonda. It is getting a bit annoying. No, VERY annoying.

"I think Flora and Musa should hunt together and then you and Tecna should go together!" Stella argued.

"No, it should be you and Flora, then Musa and Tecna!" Aisha retorted.

That's enough. "Girls!" I snapped at them. "Stella go with Musa and Aisha go with Tecna. Flora is to stay behind and watch Faragonda while I watch the Grotto."

That was our system right now. Musa, Tecna, Stella, and Aisha hunt, Flora cares for Faragonda while she recovers, and I watch over the grotto. It will be a lot easier once Faragonda has completely recovered. Then we could leave her and one other wolf while the rest of us set up a territory, but right now, we need it this way. I can admire Stella and Aisha to a point. They both want to be beta so badly, but right now, nether deserve it for their constant arguments.

I want a beta, but right now I'm not sure I should even be alpha. I know in my heart that Faragonda was the alpha before me, but I still don't ever remember being beta. I looked to Faragonda, who was lying in a sunny spot in the grotto, from my look out at the top of the ledge where the oak tree was. I don't know if I should be doing this. That's it. I am going to talk to her about this.

"Flora, can you take over for a bit? I need to speak with Faragonda." I called to my pack mate as I jumped down from my perch.

"Of course." She licked my shoulder respectively as she passed and took her place where I once was.

Faragonda had heard me and had sat up "What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

I glanced back to Flora, "Let's go somewhere a bit more private."

She followed me out of the grotto and through the woods. Once I was positive that no one would be around I sat down and turned to her.

"What's the matter Bloom?" she asked.

"I don't think I should be alpha." I admitted with a sigh.

"What makes you think that?" She asked, completely shocked.

"I…" I tried to think of a way to explain how I was feeling ."I think I have lost my memory. Not all of it, but most of it." I hung my head low.

"Oh Bloom, you are not the only one who has lost a bit of their memory. I have, Flora has, and I am sure the others have as well, but have not said anything about it, but that's not important. You have led them well these past few days. You found a den, you have kept watch regularly, and you have kept the peace between two competing pack mates. You were born to be alpha, I knew this from the first time I saw you, and no I don't remember that, I just know. Your pack mates follow you without question and I can see how much they trust you." I looked up to her.

"But I can't even decide who will be beta!"

"Two may be fighting for the title, but maybe those who you have not considered may fit the role just as well." She licked my forehead like I was a little pup, and walked back in the direction on the grotto.

Sky's Pov

We are finally here. Back at the cave where we saw the mirror, and where we saw the girls as wolves for the first time. We had one heck of a time getting here though. First off, Roxy tried to teleport us there, only to have us end up on the wrong side of the mountain chain. Then, when we finally got to the entrance of the reserve, we had to make reservations for a cabin that already had some people staying there. Finally, when we reached the site where the cabins were, we met the people who were going to be our camping buddies. There were only two people there, a man named Jeremy and a woman named Tess, who apparently have been assigned to this campsite are here to observe the new all-female wolf pack that just showed up.

The two didn't seem unfriendly. They were employed to watch over the new wolves and learn about them, so they came over as quickly as they could to try and find their den. They haven't found it yet, and for safety reasons, they decided to go with us to the cave.

"This is it?" Roxy whispered to me.

"Yeah, the girls went down the right while we went left. When we came back out of the cave, we met the wolves and they ran in that direction." I gestured to the west.

I guess Tess has good hearing because she began bombarding us with questions about what they looked like and how they acted.

"Where did they go?" there was no point lying to her, it wasn't like she wanted to do anything bad to them, so I told her about seeing the wolves.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" She started off down the path. I pointed toward it, but she stopped and knelt down. "There are some tracks here! They look a bit old, but maybe they can lead us close to them!"

We began down the path with Tess leading the way while Jeremy stayed behind and sketched a picture of the prints. We had been walking for a while, but we hadn't seen anything. Suddenly, something in the woods caught my eye. I turned my head and froze in my tracks. There she was, sitting near a large tree, sunlight glinting off of her red and black fur, was a wolf.

The others must have seen her as well, because they stopped as well.

"Oh my, she is gorgeous!" Tess whispered. "I have never seen a wolf that color before."

Jeremy immediately, yet quietly, took out a camera from his bag and took a picture of her. If she hadn't noticed us yet, now she has. At the sound of the camera shutter, she leaped to her feet and turned to face us.

"Bloom." Roxy whispered. So this one is Bloom. "I am going to try and see if she will listen to me" a blue green light flowed from her hand towards Bloom. At first, Bloom shied away from the light, but as soon as it touched her, she seemed to relax.

"She doesn't know who we are." Roxy whispered. "She is asking us to leave her territory and her pack alone."

"Ask her if I can come near her." I told her. Roxy closed her eyes, and suddenly Bloom began to snarl.

"She doesn't like you. She says she would be fine with me since I am the fairy of animals, but not you guys." Roxy said after a moment.

"Okay, obviously you guys know what's going on but we don't so… WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?" Tess asked quietly.

I turned to explain what Roxy was doing, but then Bloom took off. I turned around just to see the tip of her tail disappear into the underbrush.

"Bloom!" I yelled after her.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Aisha's POV

I watched as Bloom trotted down the path back to the Grotto. Flora had said that Bloom and Faragonda went out around midday and only Faragonda came back a while later. It was practically dark by the time she came back. She told us she would be here watching the grotto. I expected she would keep her word and not wander off on her own like she normally does. Wait a minute. She wanders off by herself? I know this is true, but I can't remember the last time she did that. I can't dwell on this though.

I walked over to her and licked her shoulder. "Where have you been? I began to worry about you." I said carefully.

"I was out near that big oak tree near the brook we first stayed at. Why were you worried? Do you think I can't take care of myself?" she is testing me, I know it.

"No, I just think we should all stay close together. We haven't had any trouble in a while, but that could change quickly."

She seemed to consider this for a moment, then she spoke. "Gather the pack, I need to tell you all something important." She walked over to the base of the overhang and sat down.

I gathered the others quickly and we all sat before Bloom. Is this it? Is she going to announce whose beta? I began to get excited and waited for her to begin to speak.

"I met some humans in the woods near the brook today." She began. I think a rock just hit the bottom of my stomach. I was disappointed that this wasn't about a beta, but humans nearby is much more important. "I counted at least eight males and two females, and there is something interesting about some of them."

"What could be interesting about humans?" Musa scoffed. "They smell bad, walk on two legs, and are absolute jerks to everything around them."

"But what about the ones who let us out of the cave without a fight?" Tecna reminded her.

"Well, some of them aren't like that." Musa turned her head in embarrassment.

"Ahem," Bloom cleared her throat.

"Sorry Bloom." Musa lowered her head.

"Like I was saying, there was something interesting about them. All but one of the males were the ones who let us out of the cave."

"Maybe their den is near here." Flora suggested.

"And maybe a rabbit can fly," Stella said sarcastically. "Humans don't live out here."

I looked to Bloom and saw the irritation on her face. "Girls! Let Bloom finish!" Stella said, she must have seen it too. Shoot, I need to be quicker.

"There was also a human female that was with them, and she is a fairy."

"A fairy?" I said involuntarily, "I didn't know they still existed."

"I know. She introduced herself as the fairy of animals and spoke to me. I have invited her to the grotto to meet our pack, and she will be here by midday tomorrow."

"Why? We don't even know what she wants with us." I asked.

That was the wrong thing to do. Bloom stood up and glared at me. Her tail was up and her hackles raised. I just questioned her in front of the entire pack, and now she was putting me in my place. I immediately sank to the ground and she quickly moved to stand over me. She snarled in my ear and I whimpered my apologies. When she was satisfied that she had made her point. She went back to where she was sitting and I sat back up, but kept my head low. There had to have been a million ways to word my question better, but no, I had to do it in a way that insulted the alpha.

"I do not have to explain myself for this! Once you meet her you will know why she is coming." Bloom said sternly, and practically challenging anyone to question her the way I did again.

We were all silent for a moment, but then Flora spoke up, "What does she look like?" And there she goes again. Calming tempers and saving the day with her sweet nature and soft voice.

"She looks like a flower almost. She has long pink fur on her head, and green and blue removable fur covering most of her body." Bloom answered, "I want all of you to be on your best behavior and treat her well."

Stella's POV

After Bloom called our little meeting to a close, I saw Aisha go up to Bloom and the two began talking. She's probably trying to make up for what she said. I feel bad for her, but we are competing for Beta right now, and I just can't feel sorry for the competition; even if she is my friend and pack mate.

"I wonder what she is like. She must be something special if Bloom invited her here." I said to Flora, Musa, and Tecna.

"Yeah, maybe she sensed something special about her. Bloom is pretty good at those kind of things. She brought all of us together didn't she?" Flora chuckled.

"We didn't have much of a choice at the time since we were under the same roof, but I have to admit, she seems to keep all of us sane. Well… Most of us." Tecna said.

I blinked. "Did you just make a joke, or were you poking fun at us?" I asked.

"Both." She said simply as both Flora and Musa began to laugh. "You and Aisha normally have a go at each other while she is gone, then the rest of us try and fix it. But we end up taking sides. By that time it takes nothing short of Flora raising her voice, something she rarely does at us, to make us stop and think for a moment." Tecna laughed.

"That's because Flora is our resident peace keeper." I hadn't noticed that Bloom and Aisha had come and joined us, so Bloom kind of startled me when she spoke.

"Yeah, my best friend is the best at her job!" Aisha pawed at Flora. "Flora, the healer and peace keeper of the pack."

Flora dodged Aisha's paw and playfully head butted her. We all laughed as the two began to rough house with each other, and soon, the infectious playful atmosphere had the rest of us join in. Faragonda was watching us scuffle from a distance, but Bloom ran up to her and began playfully nipping at the old wolf, inviting her to join in. We can get pretty rough with our play, but we toned it down as soon as Faragonda joined in.

This is it. This is what a pack should be like. No fighting, competition, just us, playing, working together, and enjoying each others company.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Roxy's POV

How am I going to sneak out and go meet Bloom? She told me she didn't want the others coming with or following me, but I know they will if I tell them. What do I tell them? Bloom and I had a silent and quick conversation when we first met, so it kind of took me off guard when she invited me to her den and to meet her pack. Maybe she remembers something about me, but not the others.

I grabbed my back pack and was about to head off when Tess stopped me.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"On a walk, I want to get some fresh air and think about some things." I said a bit too gruffly.

Tess looked like she was about to say something more, but Sky stopped her. As I was walking off to where we first saw Bloom, I heard Sky whisper to Tess.

"She just lost someone who was like a sister to her. The one she lost loved wolves, so I think our encounter yesterday has her a bit shaken," He whispered to her.

"Oh, poor thing. I'm so sorry, I didn't know." Tess gasped quietly.

Quick thinking, Sky. Well, it isn't all a lie. I have been pretty tense since yesterday when we saw Bloom, so I guess the lie made sense. Tess is a nice girl, but she can be a bit overbearing and excitable. Jeremy, on the other hand, was like her rock. He somehow managed to reign her in whenever she got too over the top. I think they are just friends in Tess' eyes, but I have seen the way Jeremy looks at her, so have the guys. It is pretty cute.

I quickly made my way back to the tree where I first met Bloom in her wolf form, sat down, and waited for her. She said midday, and it was midday, but she hasn't come yet. I laid my head back and closed my eyes.

I felt something rough and moist touch my cheek. I opened my eyes to see a red and black wolf sitting next to me and touching my cheek with her nose.

"Are you ready to go?" Bloom asked.

"Yeah, I must have fallen asleep." I got up and dusted myself off.

"Roxy, don't make quick movements and unless they say it's okay, do not touch them."

"Okay."

I followed her through the woods and to a clearing with a small little overhang with a tree's roots hanging over it. Bloom motioned for me to stop when we got to the middle of the clearing. I knelt down and waited for Bloom to do something. Suddenly, a dark brown wolf came out of the roots of the tree and cautiously approached me.

"Roxy this is Aisha. Aisha, this is Roxy. Bloom introduced us.

Tears began to form in my eyes as I saw the normally brave and outgoing girl cautiously approached me. "Hello Aisha." I said quietly and slowly extended my arm for her to smell my hand. She flinched a bit, but began to sniff and lick my hand. She got closer and began looking me over. I noticed some movement back at the roots and saw another wolf trotting up to me. She had yellow fur and walked up to me like she didn't have a care in the world.

"This is Stella." Bloom didn't have to tell me that the carefree wolf was Stella. I immediately knew it was her by how she acted.

After a moment, two more wolves came out of the roots and began sniffing me. One was albino while the other was black and grey.

"The white one is Tecna and the black one is Musa."

Lastly, a brown wolf, followed by an old silver grey wolf approached me. I guessed that the brown one is Flora since she was the last one of the girls, but I hadn't the foggiest idea for the grey one.

"And lastly, the brown one is Flora and the grey one is Faragonda."

Faragonda? What the- no, it can't be! I saw her just before I left Alfea! How can she be here! On second thought… WHY IS SHE A WOLF!?

I could tell the wolves could sense my inner panic, but I didn't care. I wanted to know why Faragonda was here, as a wolf, and not trying to find a way to fix the Winx. Did she try and find the Mirror of Lupus and got herself changed by accident? I need to calm down. The girls are getting anxious, and I have to make a good impression. I have to think of something to say, and quick, or else I might get mauled by wolves.

"I'm sorry. This is just a bit overwhelming." I stuttered, it is in no way a lie, I am surrounded by wild wolves, just another reason why I am tense.

Bloom jumped into action and placed herself in front of me, keeping the others away.

"My apologies, none of us have been around humans that much." Bloom apologized.

She hasn't changed a bit, she wants me to be comfortable and safe.

"It's okay, I am just not use to being surrounded like that."

"Are you really a fairy?" Stella came up to me again, but that was a mistake.

Bloom snapped at her and physically pushed her back away from me. It is just how a pack works. She is just being the alpha, I keep telling myself. Stella came forward before Bloom said she could, so Bloom took that as a challenge and forced her back. Stella immediately lowered herself on the ground and began licking Bloom's muzzle. Bloom forgave her easily, and they went back to normal, like it never happened. I wonder if there is something going on between the two for Bloom to snap so quickly and aggressively.

I spent the rest of the day with the pack, befriending each one of the girls again and relearning their personalities. They didn't change much personality. Wise, their wolf instincts and the pack hierarchy have changed them a bit, but it isn't noticeable once you get use to their faster passed lives. Wolves, like most animals, live in the now. They remember the past, and learn from their experiences, but they do not focus on it as much as humans do. There does seem to be something brewing between Bloom, Stella, and Aisha. The others seem to stay out of it and let them do their thing, but it is defiantly noticeable.

"Flora, can I ask you something?" I asked the brown wolf who was busy grooming Faragonda.

She stopped and looked up at me, "What is it sweetie?"

"What's going on between Aisha, Stella, and Bloom?"

"Oh, that…" Flora sighed and looked to Faragonda who answered me. "Stella and Aisha are competing to be beta and Bloom is caught in the middle. She doesn't want to choose between the two."

"Oh."

"It's getting out of hand," Flora scoffed. "The two always argue about who should do what in the pack, which undermines Bloom, which causes her to break it up, which causes both of the two to sulk and try even harder to one up each other, then the cycle repeats."

Musa and Tecna walked over to us. "Are you talking about you know what?"

"Yeah, I feel bad for Bloom. She needs a good beta, but those two are making it impossible for her to choose." Faragonda sighed.

Suddenly, my phone rang. The timing could literally not have been worse. All of the wolves immediately scattered, except for Flora who was lagging behind guarding Faragonda.

Bloom jumped down from her overhand and charged over to me.

"What is that!?" she snarled.

"It is my phone. It lets me talk to my friends even if we are far away. My friends are probably worried about me. I should go." I got up to leave, but Bloom lightly took my hand in her mouth

"Come back soon?" She asked, I could see the same question in the eyes of the others.

"Of course."


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Roxy's POV

We were nearing the end of the two weeks of spring break, and all of us were sad. Through the course of the week and couple of days I spent with them, I managed to convince the girls that the guys, Tess and Jeremy weren't that bad. They were now fine with Tess and Jeremy being close by, but the guys still had to stay a ways away. I'm sure it hurt them, knowing that their girlfriends don't like them now, but it's not their fault.

I had visited the pack every day since I met Bloom in wolf form, and they kind of accepted me into their pack. I normally stay with them for most of the day, and go back to the camp site only when I have too. The first time I came back from their den, Tess got me to spill the beans. I told her about me being a fairy, the wolves being our friends, and about how I met them all that day. The guys were as shocked as I was about to tell them about Faragonda being a wolf as well, but we will hit that problem when we get back.

Today is an exciting day for the pack. There is a field not far from the wooded area where the grotto is at, and a herd of deer is passing by. Bloom planned a hunt that is going to take place this morning and she is allowing us to watch. As soon as she told me that I could bring the guys and Tess, I raced back to tell the others. Tess and Jeremy set up at least five cameras around the field to get the hunt at every angle while the guys and I found a couple good places to hide.

Bloom had already explained the plan to me and it goes a little like this:

Tecna and Musa will charge the herd and find a deer that is ready to be hunted.

Bloom and Flora will run and separate that deer from the herd and lead it to a lone tree in the field.

And finally, Aisha and Stella will jump out from behind the tree and take the deer down.

I was a bit concerned at first, with Aisha and Stella being so hostile towards each other, but Bloom was positive that they wouldn't fight over something as big as this.

The guys, Tess, Jeremy, and I settled down in one of our chosen spots and watched the herd. Wolves don't exactly go by the hour for planning, so we got here at the crack of dawn to make sure they didn't start without us, and start without us they didn't. We were there a full four hours before they even bothered to get up out of their dens. While we waited, we watched the deer, read some books a couple times over, and even played seven round of poker using leaves as chips. I was about to try and find them when something caught my eye. A flash of while darted out of the underbrush followed quickly by a flash of black charged the herd. I quietly got the others attention and we all watched silently as Tecna and Musa tracked down an old doe.

Once the team made their decision, two streaks, one red and one brown, darted out of the underbrush, leading the deer away from the herd. The two were hard on its heels, when something caught my eye. I looked over to see a man in full on camoflauge watching the wolves as well. I tapped Tess on the shoulder and pointed to the man. He was holding something, but I couldn't tell what it was. Suddenly, Tess gasped. It didn't take two seconds for me to also recognize what was wrong. The man was aiming a gun.

Tecna's POV

I waited with Musa under a bush as Bloom and Flora got into position. The plan was for the two of us to upset the herd, pick a deer, and signal Bloom. While we ran the deer, Aisha and Stella were to get to the tree and wait for Bloom and Flora to give the signal. Once that was done, Aisha and Stella were to take the deer down.

Musa nudged me and I knew it was time. I took off at a run with my partner close behind me. I honestly don't think the deer knew what to make of us, two wolves charging a herd of at least twenty. We were half way to the herd when the deer finally began to scatter. We ran several deer before we settled on an old doe. I flicked my ear and Musa and I slowed down while Bloom and Flora took their place.

Musa and I ran to the tree line to cool off in the shade. We watched as Bloom and Flora guided the deer to the tree, but something felt wrong. Suddenly, there was a loud sound.

Flora's POV

I watched as Tecna and Musa ran through the herd. I can't wait for our turn. It was going to be fun running with Bloom and hunting something we have never hunted before. It didn't take too long for the two to choose an older doe as our prey, and as soon as Tecna flipped her ear, we were off. I felt the wind tugging at my fur as my paws carried me forward to the deer. Bloom was only a few paces ahead of me. We charged the deer as Tecna and Musa dropped off and let us take the lead.

We snapped at the doe's ankles and back legs, forcing the deer to go where we wanted her to. It felt…Right, somehow. Like this was how things are supposed to be. Staying and working with your pack to survive. This is why the pack exists. If I was on my own, I would never be able to hunt a full grown doe.

We were just about to the tree when I felt something wrong. Bloom had skidded to a stop with her ears up and alert. She must have felt something as well.

"What's happen-"a loud sound cut me off.

Aisha's POV

Stella and I were waiting for Tecna and Musa to distract the herd and get into our positions. Everything was going fine, we had already agreed to work together and not argue, because this is a major milestone of any pack. The only problem with this hunt though, is I have been placed with my competition, and something was bound to happen.

"Okay, Stella, you jump on her back while I go for the neck." I whispered.

"Why don't you go on her back while I go for the neck?" Stella argued.

_Are you kidding me? _"Because you can jump better than I can, and you are lighter." I said firmly.

"But you are stronger than me, I won't be able to hold on well." I was getting more and more irritated as we argued back and forth. I heard the herd begin to move and knew the hunt was on. _We don't have time for this._

"Fine, I will jump and you go for the neck." I gave in and we ran to get into position.

We waited in silence as we watched Bloom and Flora guide the deer to us.

"Now," I whispered to Stella. "We go on the count of three. One, two, three-" Stella took off and launched herself at the deer and landed on its back. I had no time to think or be angry with Stella, I ran to the deer that was now furiously trying to shake Stella off. I was about three steps away from the tree when I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Suddenly, there was a loud sound. Not one second later, my left shoulder felt like it was on fire. Then, everything went black.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Roxy's POV

I watched in horror as Aisha tumbled head over tail after she was shot by the man. Stella, who was still on the deer's back, jumped down and ran to check on Aisha with the others hard on her heels.

I heard a clicking sound. I turned to see the man reloading his gun and aiming again. The guys jumped into action. Tess screamed at the man while Jeremy snapped a photo of him. If the man didn't notice us before, he definitely noticed the eight guys and two girls rushing him now. The man ran as fast as he could through the underbrush, but he was no match for us. We caught up to him easily, but he pulled his gun on us.

Just as I was about to cast a spell, I heard a heartbreaking sound. The girls were howling. It was a horrible mixture of grief and fear, but it quickly turned into a kind of rallying call. One howl in particular seemed to get closer and closer.

"Everyone get back!" I yelled and ran behind a tree. The others followed me quickly, but the man decided to take this chance to run.

Not two seconds after the man disappeared from sight, a red blur shoot by. It was Bloom, but something was wrong.

Her bright red fur was now a blood red, and the black on her shoulders now lined her back and connected to the black on her legs. Her lips were peeled back as far as they could go, revealing her sharp fangs. This wolf was no longer the calm, respectful alpha I knew. This was a wild and furious animal bent on revenge.

I motioned for the others to stay back while I followed Bloom to make sure she didn't do anything bad. I ran through the forest as fast as I could, but a sudden sound stopped me. Two different sounds. One sound was a gunshot that sounded off twice, and the second was a horrible, bloodcurdling scream came from in front of me. I was too late to save him. I knew that, but I kept running to them.

When I finally caught up to Bloom and the man, I felt bile rise up in my throat. The man was lying face up on the ground with a bloody leg and arm. Bloom, on the other hand, was still latched onto his throat. Crimson blood coated her muzzle and dyed her white teeth red. I gagged at the strong smell of blood and had to take a knee to prevent myself from feinting. Bloom hadn't noticed me when I first arrived, but now she had, and she was stalking towards me.

Tears formed in my eyes. Bloom would normally never go to such lengths for revenge, but now that she was a wolf, she was willing to kill anyone who got in her way.

Bloom was four feet away from me and began to snarl. I couldn't move. All I could do was look into her angry eyes. Wait a moment, this wasn't anger… This was fear, and grief.

"Oh Bloom…" My voice cracked and she seemed to realize who I was. She began to whine, and then collapsed into my arms. I stroked her soft fur as she licked my hand, asking for forgiveness. I touched her right side near her front leg and she let out a loud yelp. Upon closer inspection, I found two deep cuts on her right side. She must have been grazed by the bullets from the last two shots the man fired.

I heard the other wolves begin to howl in the distance, and Bloom slowly stood up, being careful not to put too much weight on her leg. She looked back to me before limping back to her pack and to her possibly dead pack mate.

Flora's POV

I think my mind went blank when I saw Aisha lurch and fall. I didn't think of the potential danger that still may be near, I just ran to her. Maybe I could find out what's wrong with her.

I practically flew to my best friend's side. Once I reached her, I began to quickly check her over. There was a small round wound on her right side just below her shoulder. At first, I was confused at how something so little had such an effect on her, but then I noticed how deep it was.

I began to lick the wound to clean it up so I could see better, but the blood flow wouldn't let up.

"Flora, what's wrong with her?" Stella's voice quivered as she made her way to my side.

"The wound is small, but very deep." I said after a moment. "It will be a miracle if she survives."

Bloom threw her head back and howled, and the others were quick to follow. Suddenly, Bloom took off in to the woods. I knew what she was going to do, she was going to hunt down the thing that hurt Aisha, but I wasn't sure that that was a good idea.

"Stella, Musa, help me get Aisha back to the grotto. We will be safer there." I said as I grabbed Aisha by the scruff of her neck and began to pull her in the direction of our den. The others were quick to help, but Stella just stood there in shock.

"It would have been me…" she mumbled to no one in particular. "It should have been me…"

I didn't have the time to question her, Aisha's life is at stake, but I will be sure to get the full story later.

Bloom's Pov

I don't remember much of what happened. All I know is that I killed a human. Roxy was the only one there when I finally came to my senses. She seemed upset, and I guessed it was because of what I did. My shoulder and side burned and I could still taste blood in my mouth.

I sat with Roxy for a while, but then I heard the others howling for me. By the sound of it, they had returned to the grotto. I moved away from Roxy and began to limp back to my pack, unsure of what I would find.

It took me longer than usual to get back to the grotto because of my shoulder and side, but I finally reached our den. Tecna and Musa were watching over the grotto while Stella seemed to be in shock. Flora and Faragonda were busy tending to Aisha, and I made my way over to them to see how she is doing. I tried my best to muscle through the pain so Flora wouldn't get distracted, but Faragonda noticed anyways.

"Bloom, what happened to you?!" she cried.

"I'm fine, just focus on Aisha." I snapped at her.

I felt a stone in my stomach as I watched Flora desperately trying to stop the bleeding. Aisha looked lifeless and limp. How could one of my strongest wolves go to being the frailest in a matter of moments? It isn't fair…it just isn't fair.

Flora worked tirelessly to keep Aisha alive for three days straight. Aisha seemed to be staying strong and getting better, but Flora says whatever hurt her is still in her and making it harder to heal. Stella told me everything that happened up until the incident. I was less than happy with her, but I couldn't let her believe that it should have been her. I guess the only good thing that came out of it was that I made the decision of who was going to become beta.

"Bloom!" Tecna ran up to me, "She's awake!"

I ran down from my look out to where we made a nest of moss for Aisha in the shade. She her head was up a little bit and she seemed better, but I could see the exhaustion and pain in her eyes.

"Bloom, I'm sorry about the hunt." She apologized.

"What are you talking about!? It isn't your fault that some human decided to hurt you." I said sternly. This was no one's fault but the man who hurt her, and I have already made him regret his decision.

"Also…" Aisha began, "I am not fit to be beta anymore. I think you should choose Stella."

Her words shocked me. Aisha is not the kind of wolf to just give up without a fight, but she seemed broken. Like she lost something as soon as she was injured. I was angry with her for giving up so easily, but she was still in so much pain. I guess I have to respect her decision even if I hated it.

"Never mind that… Just focus on getting better soon." I said as I leaned down and began to groom her bloody fur, carefully avoiding her wound and the herbs Flora placed over it.

I want to relish the time I have with her, because she might not have much longer to live. That night, all of us curled up around Aisha and began telling silly stories. Even if they were made up, it brought us all joy to see her smile and laugh. No one ever mentioned or asked about her wound, no one had audacity to break the soothing atmosphere covering the anxious one, no matter how fake it may be. All of us wanted to do was give Aisha some peace.

Roxy's Pov

All of us were standing there in shock at the ranger station. The man that shot Aisha was killed by Bloom four days ago, but something about his wounds baffled all of us. The areas where Bloom's teeth pierced his skin were singed. Like something burned the wounds after he was mauled. A thought came to me, but my mind violently rejected it as soon as it popped into my head. The girls don't have their powers, do they?

Luckily, the man had a lighter and a ton of cigarettes in his pockets to they thought he might have tried to burn his wounds closed to stop any major bleeding, so no action was to be taken against Bloom or the pack. Tess and Jeremy even got some local wildlife vet to take a look at Aisha and Bloom's wounds if they let us.

The need to get Aisha help, If she was still alive, was what was driving me to the grotto today. I had a tracker on and I was to leave it at their den so the rangers can come and tranquilize them, so they can get Aisha back to the clinic and treat Blooms wounds.

I haven't gone to the den to check on them because I was afraid of their reaction. How will they act towards a human when a human shot their pack mate? I entered the grotto unsure of what I would find, and was pleasantly surprised. Aisha was lying in the shade with Flora and she seemed to be somewhat okay. Bloom was the first to spot me, and she quickly ran up to greet me.

"Roxy, it is so good to see you again. I am sorry you had to witness my savagery." She whimpered.

"It's okay. You had a right to be angry, but in the future… Don't kill any more humans. Some others are sensitive to wolves killing a man and will want to hunt you down too. No matter what he did to you and your pack." I warned her quietly.

She thought for a moment, "Roxy… Can you please leave for today? It is nice to see you, but I don't want other humans finding where we are, and if you stay too long, someone may come looking for you."

"Of course… I understand." I felt horrible as I left and dropped the tracker in front of the den entrance.

The next day couldn't come fast enough. All of us waited for word on how everything went. Roy and Nex were the worst about it. They were at each other's throats and kept pacing the veterinary clinic where they were supposed to be bringing Aisha. They were both elated to hear that she was alive, but all of the guys were upset to hear that Bloom didn't want anyone near the den.

"It makes sense!" Sky finally said when I told them. "She is putting her pack, her family, before anyone… even if it means keeping friends out of her territory."

Tess and Jeremy were waiting with us as well. Waiting for the call telling us that they were on their way with Aisha. When Jeremy's phone rang, we all surrounded him, trying to hear what the vet and the rangers said.

"Well, only four out of the seven wolves were here. And we ended up having to tranquilize all of them because of how aggressive the three guarding the injured one were. The red one who was grazed by two bullets got a pretty bad infection, but the antibiotics we gave her should take care of it quickly enough. We've got the injured one, and we should be back in about ten minutes if we don't hit too much traffic." The vet said.

It would have been such a short trip from here to the den where they got Aisha, but of course they got into nearly an hours' worth of traffic. We all waited anxiously for the vet and tempers were running thin, and we were all convinced that Roy and Nex were going to kill each other before they got here.

Once the vet finally arrived, it was all hands on deck. They wanted me in the operation room with her in case she started to wake up, but I needed to stay well out of the way. The vet worked quickly and effectively and removed the bullet within the first five minutes of the operation. Luckily, nothing major was injured by the shot, but unluckily, the sedative began to wear off.

She whined loudly as the vet began sewing up the bullet hole. I held her head and whispered quietly in her ear to calm her.

Aisha wouldn't be able to return to the pack for a couple of days, or until her wound was mostly healed up. The guys and I sadly had to return back to Magix for school, but Tess promised to call me when they were about to release her. I was sad to leave, but I was anxious to get back and figure out how the school was going to run without Headmistress Faragonda. I'm sure everything will be fine, but it will be tough not having her around.

"What the -?!" I was dumb founded at who I saw when I got to Alfea. Miss Faragonda was just standing there in the middle of the courtyard, greeting the students. What's going on here?


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Faragonda's Pov

The entire pack was up in arms because of what happened to Aisha. Bloom, Flora, and I were the only other wolves at the grotto when the men came. The others were out hunting when it happened, but they still blamed themselves for not being there to help. If anything, it is my fault. I am the oldest of all of them, and they take care of me, the least I could do was protect our pack mate.

What happened is still kind of fuzzy. All I remember is five grown human males coming into the grotto, a pain in my leg, and then being really tired. Flora and Bloom were the same way. Bloom even charged them, but her wounded shoulder and illness slowed her down enough for her to get hit as well. After some time, Stella, Musa, and Tecna came back and woke us up. Bloom had some strange smelling and bad tasting goo on her shoulder where she was hurt, but she admitted that it soothed her wound. I believe that is the only good thing that came out of their visit.

It's strange though… I hate that she's gone, but for some reason… I feel like it was a good thing. I guess I'm just not as nice as them, though.

Daphne's Pov

I hated having to come back here. Normally, I am ready to get back to work after a vacation because I love teaching, but with the impostor still there… I was less than enthusiastic about returning to Alfea.

I told Thoren only the bare minimum of what's going on, which is not doing any favors for our relationship, but it is necessary to keep the students safe. She said she will always be watching us teachers, so I can't risk anything, even if we are in a different realm.

I want to do so many things right now… Get my powers back, defeat the impostor, and go visit my sister. From what Sky told me, the girls need to turn themselves back, but there is only a slim chance of that happening. The least I could do, though, is be near her.

I was walking down the hall to my class room, four days after school was back in, when someone suddenly pulled me into a storage closet. My scream was cut off by a hand over my mouth and someone saying. "Don't worry, It's me, Roxy!"

"Roxy?! What the heck are you doing?" I whispered to her.

"I need you to go with me on a short trip tomorrow." She whispered, "It's really important."

I don't know whether it was the look in her eyes or the fact that she pulled me into a closet just to ask me this, but I quickly agreed.

I don't know what was worse. Having to wait a full twenty-four hours for Roxy to tell me where we were going, or arriving in front of a wildlife veterinary clinic on Earth near where the girls are.

"Roxy… What happened?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

"Come in quickly." Was all she said as she and two other people guided me to a back room.

I gasped as they opened the door and a dark brown mass leapt up at Roxy. I reached out to push her out of the way, but stopped as I realized that she was laughing and the wolf wasn't aggressive.

"Daphne, this is Aisha." Roxy said as she grabbed my hand and lowered them to Aisha's height. She sniffed our hands and then licked the top of mine. I chuckled a bit.

"It is so nice to see you Aisha." I turned to Roxy again, "What happened?"

"Aisha was shot by a poacher and brought here so the bullet could be removed and so she could heal. She has made a remarkably fast recovery and can be released back to her pack today." A man who I assumed to be the vet said.

"Yeah, are you sure she isn't a magical wolf?" a girl Roxy called Tess laughed.

"Not sure yet… The entire pack might be though. That's why I wanted you to come with me, Daphne. I thought you might be able to sense if they might have a shred of power in them." I gave her a questioning look, "I'll tell you later." She said quietly.

"Now Aisha, if you don't want to go in a cage, you need to be on a leash and promise that you won't be aggressive to anyone. Okay?" Roxy looked down to the wolf who dipped her head.

She placed a collar around Aisha's neck and strapped on a leash. Aisha was so excited that she tried to go through every door she saw. Once we finally got through the front doors, she flopped down and rolled on her back in a patch of grass.

"Are you so happy to be out of that nasty place?" A man rolled up in a large truck, stopped next to us and laughed.

"Hey Jeremy, did you get the camera set up?" Tess asked him.

"Yeah. This is going to be great!" He said.

"He and Tess are wolf researchers and I have asked them to especially look after the Winx." Roxy whispered in my ear.

Roxy guided Aisha into the back of the truck and tied her leash down, as the rest of us climbed into the truck. It was a surprisingly short drive to the National Park, and an even shorter one to get to the place where we were releasing her.

"Alright, Tess, don't let her out until I say so, and Roxy, go get the pack excited" Jeremy instructed.

I waited in the back with Aisha and Tess.

Bloom's Pov

I don't know what to do anymore. Aisha's gone, I don't have a beta, and everyone's spirits were low enough that no one even wants to go hunting. Flora is severely ill. Not physically, but in her heart. She was destroyed when she lost Aisha when she worked so hard to save her best friend. All of us have tried to comfort her, but she hasn't eaten since it happened. She only drinks when forced to, and she sleeps on her own now.

I'm honestly not well either, and I'm sure the pack knows it, but no one ever says anything. I'm not sure what's wrong with me. I am always hot, my fur has changed, and I can't seem to ever get all of my energy out. I run every day, farther than I probably should go, but nothing helps. It's like something is trying to erupt out of my body, but I don't know what it is.

I just returned from one such run to see the pack, excluding Flora, crowded around Roxy. I ran up to her and the others backed off. Roxy bent down and wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on me. She smelled strange though… She- no, it couldn't be…

"Why do you smell like Aisha?!"I backed up a bit.

"I have a surprise for all of you, but you have to follow me and don't ask any questions." She was smiling ear to ear ."…wait, where's Flora?"

I turned towards the tree Flora has been staying under for the past few days, but she wasn't there.

"Where's Flora?!" I turned to the others, but they all looked as shocked and confused as me.

"I'm here…" a weak voice came from the entrance of the grotto. I turned to see Flora walking through the trees with what looked like herbs in her jaws. She completely passed us by and placed the herbs under her tree. Her sad eyes locked with mine, but I could see she was trying.

"Flora, we are all going with Roxy, you need to come too." I said.

She quietly followed the rest of us out of the Grotto and to a small clearing not far from the woods where our den was. This clearing…This is where Aisha was hurt…

Flora and Stella began to whimper. Stella still blames herself for what happened and has even taken to chewing on her own leg to try and punish herself. We were all mortified when she started this, Musa and Tecna regularly get her large sticks to chew on, but she prefers to harm herself.

There was a large thing in the field, and it smelled really bad, but under the toxic sent, something smelled too familiar. And then we saw her.

Daphne's Pov

Tears began to form in my eyes as I saw the girls in her wolf forms, but something caught me off guard. Power seemed to resonate in waves from the red one. A power that I knew as the Dragon flame. So the red one is Bloom, but it seems like she is uncomfortable, like she doesn't know what her powers are or how to release them.

Aisha peeked her head over the truck, and everyone held their breath. The entire pack seemed locked on to her, and then they charged forwards. Tess quickly took off the collar and leash just before Aisha launched herself onto the top of the truck, and bounded down to her pack mates.

Bloom and a yellow wolf, who I assumed was Stella, were the first to greet Aisha. And by greet, I mean throw themselves onto each other. Two more wolves, Tecna and Musa quickly followed suit and rammed into the growing, rambunctious pile of fur. The last two, Flora and a wolf I didn't know, followed more slowly, and the pack settled down to let the old wolf and the frail looking Flora greet her.

Aisha whimpered and cried as she greeted everyone. Roxy, Tess, Jeremy, and I all stood near the truck watching the tearful reunion.

"Daphne, do you know who the silver grey wolf is?" Roxy asked quietly.

A guess crossed my mind, but I quickly shoved it away "I have no idea."

"It's Faragonda." She whispered, confirming my first guess.


	14. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Hello! Echo here. I would like to quickly clear something up that I have seen in the reviews a few times about the title of this story. I did NOT name this after the disease lupus. I named it Mirror of lupus because the mirror turns people into wolves. You know, as in Canis lupus, the GREY WOLF. I just wanted to clear that up real fast, and now, on with the story!

Aisha's Pov

I don't think I will ever be as happy as I am right now ever again. Being back with my pack and having my shoulder healed… this is the best miracle ever. They all seemed a bit different… Sad, and maybe a bit depressed, but they all went back to normal once we were back together. Both Flora and Stella looked a lot skinnier. Musa, Tecna, and Faragonda seemed tired, but Bloom… She looked entirely different. Her fur was darker and she had more black on her back, and she also seemed… more powerful.

"I am so glad you're okay!" Flora whined as we nuzzled each other. I was so glad to see her again. I missed my best friend while I was in the strange cave, but I was sad to see how unwell she was. She was thin and her fur had dulled since the last time I saw her, but I promised myself that I would change that. Stella also had a large wound on her leg, like she chewed herself raw. I'm sure once we get back to the grotto, Flora will heal it.

Daphne's Pov

"So this is where you are…" I whispered, my voice trembling. "I was wondering what happened to you."

"The woman at Alfea, the one who is impersonating Faragonda… Who is it?" Roxy asked.

"I don't know… But she needs to be left alone"

"But-"

"Roxy please… I want her gone more than you know, but I can't get rid of her… None of the teachers can…" Tears filled my eyes. "She took our powers and threatened the students if we told anyone."

Suddenly, Bloom trotted over to Roxy, and she bent down and hugged her neck.

"…She wants to thank us for bringing Aisha back safely." Roxy mumbled. "So, do you know if they have any magic?"

She was changing the subject, probably for Tess and Jeremy who were looking at me with concerned faces. "Yes, they do have magic, especially Bloom, but it is suppressed. Maybe this is another side effect of the mirror."

"So they are wolves, have no memory, and their powers have been suppressed… How are they expected to turn back then?!" Roxy cried out, startling Bloom.

I knelt down next to Roxy and hugged her. She hugged me back and began to cry onto my chest.

"How are we going to get her out of Alfea? The Winx would be able to in a snap, but how can we get her out?" she cried.

Bloom was now whining and the rest of the pack surrounded us. "I don't know, but we will get her out of there."

Sky's Pov

The guys and I were less than happy to be back at Red Fountain. We all wanted to be near the girls, even if they didn't want us around. Helia was always on edge, Timmy snapped at us easily, Roy and Nex were constantly getting into fights, Brandon shut everyone out, and Riven behaved worse than normal. I myself have found that I am not as interested in things as I was before Bloom became a wolf.

Roxy called me this morning and told me that Aisha is completely healed and has been returned to the pack. She also told me that she has something really important to talk to the guys, Thoren, and me about. We met up with Thoren after classes and we headed out to Magix. Roxy met up with us at a place called the White Horse and as we all sat down, Roxy got bombarded with questions.

"How are the girls?"

"Is Aisha okay?"

"Do you think they remembered anything new?"

Roxy held up her hands "whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down guys. The girls are fine, and Aisha has been reunited with the pack. But there is something way more important we need to talk about, two things actually."

We exchanged glances. "Does this have something to do with Daphne and why she is so upset?" Thoren asked suddenly. Daphne was upset? I hadn't noticed.

"Yeah... But first, there is something about the girls you need to know."

"What?" I asked.

"Their powers are still there, but they don't seem to know how to use them." Roxy said quietly.

"…Really?" I said after a moment. "What will we do if they figure out how to use their powers?"

"I don't know… Well, we would have to take them off of earth and find a place that they could stretch their powers without burning down a forest or completely change the ecosystem altogether." Roxy chuckled sadly.

"What about Daphne? You said that you know what's been bothering her." Thoren asked again.

He is really worried about her. Well, he should be, she is his wife… And she is Bloom's sister… I should have at least visited her to see how she was doing.

"Faragonda, the real one, is with the girls as a wolf, and the Faragonda here is a fake." We already knew that, and we guessed she was there to just keep people from worrying. "The Faragonda that is here is an impostor who has stolen the majority of our teacher's powers and have threatened us students if they told anyone or tried to stand against her."

We were all dumbstruck, how could this have happened?

"What are we going to do?" Timmy asked.

"…We are going to figure out a way to get that woman out of Alfea before someone gets hurt." Thoren said.

"Maybe we could get her to reveal herself to the other students?" Brandon said.

"That's a good thought, but how? She has everyone completely convinced she is the real thing except for the teachers." Roy said, and Nex surprisingly agreed with him for the first time in months.

"What if we inform Saladin and Headmistress Griffon? Maybe they could get her to reveal herself." Helia said.

"…That, might work." Roxy mumbled, thinking. "Yeah! She must have been really strong to take all of the teacher's powers, so the other Headmasters could work together and beat her!"

"Okay, Roxy, you can go tell Headmistress Griffon and we will tell Headmaster Saladin." I said. "We can arrange a meeting somewhere secret to figure out what to do next."

Bloom's Pov

Everything is as it should be now that the pack is home again. Well, almost everything. Ever since I have seen that human female who was with Roxy, I have this strange feeling that I have seen her before and have simply forgotten. Oh well, I can't dwell on that now. Tonight, we hunt and sing till our throats burn!

Stella and Aisha seemed to be getting along much better now, but they are competing again to be Beta. Flora is back to her normal self now, and the pack seems to be going slowly back to as we were before Aisha was injured.

"Hey Bloom, Come hunt with us?" Musa and Tecna called for me.

"Sure, where to?" I trotted over to them.

"There is a rabbit burro I found a little way past the creek" Musa said. "I think that there are young-lings there. They will make an easy catch if they are out, and if not, we can just dig them out."

We reached the place where the burro was, but a scent caught my nose. Tecna and Musa smelled it to, and we all came to a stop.

"Bloom," Tecna whimpered. The scent was of a new pack of wolves. I stalked forward to a dug up burro. Blood. Rabbit blood.

"It seems our visitors had the same idea as you, Musa." I growled.

"We need to get back and alert the others." I backed up and took off in the direction of the Grotto.

Aisha's Pov

I was helping Flora arrange the herbs we collected earlier today, but something made me stop. Stella barked a warning from her lookout and I turned towards the entrance of the grotto just in time to see five large males charge down the slope.

Stella bounded down the roots as Flora and I charged forward to meet them. Faragonda, who was sunning herself, jumped to attention and came to our side. Even if she was older, she could still fight.

"Who are you?!" Faragonda demanded.

"I am DarkMud. I have been searching for new pack mates to increase the size of our pack." the Dark brown one looked back to his pack "And I believe we found what we are looking for."

"You have found nothing!" A voice roared.

I looked to see Bloom, Tecna, and Musa bounding down to stand with us. DarkMud seemed a little surprised, but then he smiled deviously.

"Who is the Alpha of the pack?" He asked.

"I am. My name is Bloom and you are trespassing in my territory!" Bloom snarled.

"I am DarkMud-"

"I heard who you are and what you want, and you have come to the wrong place!" Bloom cut him off.

"Oh I believe I have come to the right place. You see… I am an alpha, and so are you… and I am not catching a scent of any males but us. We both have what the other needs. I need an alpha female, and you need an alpha male." He said.

"I have no need for an alpha male, and there is nothing in this world that will make me your alpha female!" Bloom said.

"Then maybe one of your other females will fill this important role…" his gaze raked over us and as soon as his eyes landed on me, I felt like I needed a bath. I was clear what his intentions were, and none of us were going to have it.

"You can look elsewhere!" I said simply. "None of us are interested."

The others nodded their heads in agreement and Bloom raised her tail dominantly.

"If you won't join us… Then I will take your territory." DarkMud's voice hardened.

He looked back to his pack mates who raised their hackles in agreement. "But not now… Think on my offer. I shall be back in one moon cycle to speak with you and your beta alone, and with me and my beta." He and his pack walked out of the grotto.

Bloom stood there in silence. Her head low. I didn't have to guess why this troubled her. We just got the back together and now there is a chance we will have to go to war. And on top of that… We still don't have a beta.

Stella and I exchanged glances. We are both going to have to work ten times harder. I will be beta.

"Bloom," I walked up to her. "If there is anything I can do…"

"Aisha… I will announce who will be beta in four days. Just hunt, rest, and train until then. Once I have a beta, we will set up a better routine and we will keep our territory and keep DarkMud and his pack out." Bloom said quietly and walked away.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Stella's Pov

Aisha told me what Bloom said to her. About how she will announce her beta in four days… That day is tomorrow, and I have been working my tail off to be noticed. Aisha has been working just as hard, but I should be beta, not her. I am Bloom's best friend, so I should be by her side when she meets DarkMud and his beta.

There is something I have noticed though, how Bloom has been hanging around Flora a lot. She is ill, I know that by how she has been acting. I just hope that it isn't anything serious. The others have noticed as well, but we don't say anything about it to her. Tecna, Musa, and Faragonda seem to be avoiding Aisha and me, probably because of our competition. Faragonda stays near Flora to help out with arranging herbs and just helping her keep her strength. All because she didn't take care of herself while Aisha was gone, and Musa and Tecna have been keeping to themselves and hunting together. I have to admit though, they have become the best hunting team in the entire pack.

Bloom has kept up a vigilant guard that only cycles between Aisha and me, and Flora has been caring for my leg wound that I gave myself. We have settled in a routine that works well when there isn't the constant threat of war with another pack. Speaking of them… They are really getting on our nerves.

We keep catching their scent in our territory, and we know they are hunting our prey. They get bolder every day, we have even had to chase a couple of DarkMud's goons out and it is beginning to get really tiresome. We have even caught them hunting and marking up our territory.

Today, I have to prove to Bloom that I am worthy enough to be beta. I have decided to go hunting and bring back some fur of one of the males from DarkMud's pack, to send a message that we are not messing around. They seem to stay near the mountain, where we never go, and have the gall to walk into our land without a care in the world. I have seen them before, and they only travel in groups of two or three, so I just need to wait around for a group of two and take on the stupid punks.

I roll in some mud to cover my scent, even if I hate my fur being dirty, as beta I need to make sacrifices. I managed to crawl in an incredibly warped tree and get out of sight. Now, it is just a waiting game, one that I'm willing to wait all night for. They walk the path to the brook often, probably to taunt us, so it wasn't long till a group of two finally crossed my path.

"Hey, do you smell that?" I froze as one of the outsiders put their nose to the ground.

"Yes, I do." The other smirked, I stayed completely still, readying myself to attack.

"Rabbit!" they said at the same time, I sighed in relief that they hadn't noticed me.

"Hey, do you think Leaf will ever come back?" one asked suddenly, causing the other to freeze.

"You know DarkMud doesn't want us speaking about her." Hmm? Possibly valuable info? "She walked out on us while she was pregnant with his pups. He was furious enough to chase all of their past cubs out too. I wonder if they are okay though. She was my aunt."

"Maybe she is near this territory. She loved the woods more than the mountains." The other said quietly.

"You know what? You go on ahead, I want to be alone for a while." The one who was the wolf named Leaf's nephew seemed visibly upset about the entire conversation, but now was my chance. Once the other wolf left earshot, I dropped down on the others head, grabbing for his neck.

He squeaked in surprise as my entire weight dropped on his back. My jaws clamped down on his throat and my claws raked his back. He rolled to get me off of him, but that only gave me a better grip and a chance to get his softer belly fur. I felt his teeth connect with the side of my face as I switched my attention to grabbing a mouth full of fur. I growled and sank my teeth into his chest while I slammed my paw down on his muzzle. He immediately became submissive, recognizing how easily I could kill him with my new grip. I turned my attention back to his belly fur and began ripping out everything I could.

Once I was satisfied with my trophy, I released him and ran through the brook. This will defiantly prove to Bloom that I am strong enough to be beta.

Flora's Pov

Things were looking up for all of a week. Just one week before everything went to hell. I hate him. I hate DarkMud and his entire pack for doing this to my pack, no, my family. I need to focus on hunting down herbs and anything that will help with injuries if it comes down to a fight.

I was busy collecting some moss to carry water with when a scent caught my nose, a scent that turned my stomach. I dropped all of my moss and followed the scent as quickly as I could. I came to an opening in the woods where a silver wolf was laying on the field surrounded by trampled grass. I made my way over to her as quickly as I could and began checking her over. She had defiantly been trampled by something bigger than her, probably a deer, and she was barely hanging on.

"Who- who are you?" the wolf woke up and whimpered to me.

"My name is Flora, I just want to help you." I told her.

"No, stop." She yelped as I tried to grab her scruff. "Please, it's too late for me. I need you to listen to me very closely."

She whispered into my ear something that I smelled on her, but didn't want to think about. Once she told me what she needed to, she laid her head down, and stopped breathing. I licked her cheek, promising to come back to bury her when I could, then took off into the woods. I followed her directions exactly, and came across the burro she told me about. I looked down and called to the small, fuzzy bodies down below. I watched as three little pups lifted their heads, up at me curiously.

"Hello little ones, my name is Flora. Your mother told me to take care of you for some time."

Aisha's Pov

My head jerked up when I heard Flora's howl, summoning me and anyone we can spare. Faragonda elected to stay behind while Bloom and I ran to her. We skidded to a stop once we reached her though. I honestly could barely see her through the mass of puppy fur that was swarming all over her. They all seemed about two months old, but they were all on the small side.

"Flora, what is going on?" Bloom barked, the puppies scattered immediately and nosedived into the burro nearby.

"Bloom, I met a female named Leaf who was trampled by a stag while she was hunting a fawn for her pups. She asked me to care for them since they are too young to fend for themselves. I accepted, but I can't care for the pups on my own." She looked to Bloom. "Please, I promised her I would care for them. May I take them back to the pack with us?"

Bloom looked away from Flora and down to the three pups below. "How can I refuse them? Aisha, go find the rest of the pack. We will need everyone to care for them, and everyone to welcome them." Bloom reached down and licked each pup, who all licked her muzzle, begging for food.

"Oh, and there is something you need to know." Flora stammered. "Leaf used to be the Alpha female of DarkMud's pack."

"So they are his cubs." She mumbled to herself and Flora nodded her head slowly.

"Then we must not tell them then. I claim them to our pack. They are ours now." She said after a moment.

I took off back to the grotto only to run into Tecna, literally.

"What the heck was that about?!" she yelped as I barreled into her.

"Bloom said to get everyone back to the den, She has a big announcement." I said quickly.

"We were heading back to the grotto anyways, and Faragonda is watching the grotto, so the only one left is Stella." Musa came up behind me and dropped her rabbit that she was carrying.

"Hey, after the announcement, can you go hunting with me. We are going to start having to store up some food for what's about to happen." She looked confused, but she nodded her head.

I had no clue where Stella was, so I simply threw my head back and howled for her. She returned my call only a moment afterwards, telling me that she would be back at the grotto in a while and not to wait for her.

It took a while for Bloom and Flora to get back because of the pups, but when they did, they were flocked by the others. The little pups cowered under Flora's belly and whimpered quietly. It must be hard for them, they lost their mother and now are a part of a pack of seven wolves, all of which love pups. Bloom snarled a warning and the others immediately backed off, giving the pups some space.

"So this is the big announcement?" Faragonda chuckled.

"Yes, I found there mother dying in a meadow and she asked me to care for them. Tonight when they are asleep, I will need some help burying her." Flora said quietly, gazing at the pups who were still pressing as much of their bodies as they could under her.

Now that they were out of their burro, I could finally get a good look at them. There were two boys and one girl. One boy was snow white and had dark brown eyes. He seemed to be the most outgoing out of his litter, but he was still nervous of strangers. The only girl was dark brown with black legs and face and amber eyes, she is the biggest of the litter, but only by a little bit. The last and smallest pup was solid black with bright blue eyes. He was by far the most timid and skittish.

Musa offered her rabbit to the pups and tore it up for them since their little teeth couldn't get through. Stella was sure taking her sweet time… well, she did sound like she was quite a ways a way when I howled to her. Just as I was about to howl again, she burst into the grotto with something furry in her jaws.

She skids to a stop when she notices the pups still munching on the rabbit. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her processing what she was seeing, but then a serious look crossed her face. She trotted over to Bloom, who was speaking to Flora and Faragonda quietly.

"Bloom." Stella calls to her, placing down a small pile of fur "DarkMud's goons decided to take a walk to the brook today. I caught him and we had a little scuffle, but I gave him a bare belly so he won't forget not to cross us." She declared proudly with her chest puffed out.

"…What?!" Bloom was completely shocked. This was not good timing. DarkMud already wants our territory, but if he recognizes the pups as his, we may get into a fight before the next moon when the meeting is. Bloom got past her initial shock and got angry. No, she seemed furious.

"Are you stupid?! Do you want to start a fight before we are ready?! And to top it off, we now have pups in the pack!" Bloom snarled at her, Stella was visibly hurt, but then surprised

"But they shouldn't be on our territory in the first place!" she protested.

"That isn't the point Stella!" I ran up to her and snarled "the point is that he could show up with his pack any minute now and attack us because you attacked one of his wolves. You have seen how he acts, he will most defiantly will take advantage of this!"

Bloom had gone silent. She seemed to be thinking something over…Or trying her best to hold her temper.

"I shall handle you later, but now I have two important announcements to make." She said, her voice even. She bounded over to the roots of the tree and leaped to her outlook.

"Now that the entire pack is here, I have two announcements to make. Earlier today, Flora met a wolf called Leaf dying in a meadow. She informed Flora of her pups and begged her to take care of them…So we will. I shall now introduce Amber (Brown girl), Ice (White male), and Night (Black male) as the newest members of our pack." She pauses and looks down to the pups who are not cowering under Flora, but leaning against her. They were obviously tired from their long day. "Now for my second announcement. I have decided who shall be my beta."

Both Stella and I were on our feet immediately, waiting excitedly for her to finish.

"Flora."


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Flora's Pov

"I have decided who shall be my beta…Flora." I heard Blooms words that she told me to prepare for just moments before. I stood up slowly, shaking off the three pups who have attached themselves to me, and jumped up to stand in front of Bloom. I licked her shoulder respectfully and took my place beside her.

"What?!" Stella yelped. "Why is Flora beta? She didn't want to be beta in the first place, I did! I would even be fine if Aisha was beta, because she worked for it!"

Bloom glared at her. "Because she is the only sensible choice! You acted like a complete fool to impress me!"

"What about Aisha?!" Stella roared, standing her ground.

"Because I know something you don't about her, and it is not my place to tell you what needs to be said by Aisha." Bloom snarled, I knew what she was talking about with Aisha, but I still felt bad for her. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't become beta.

All eyes were on Aisha, and I could sense that she was very uncomfortable. "I- my shoulder twinges sometimes… from when I was hurt." She admitted quietly.

"I chose her for my own reasons that you do not need to know." Bloom raised her tail dominantly.

"Well then… I want to challenge her!" Stella declared.

Musa's Pov

I stood there in shock. I was shocked about Aisha's healed injury still hurting her, and that Stella would challenge Flora, the most docile wolf in the pack, to a tooth and claw fight.

"Stella, I don't want to fight. The last thing these pups need is infighting to make their hellish day even better." Flora said coldly.

"Then when they sleep." Stella's voice darkened.

Everyone held their breath as Flora stood in silence. The three pups tried to run to Flora, but Musa stopped them.

"…Fine. When the pups are asleep, we will end this." She surprised us all.

Later that day, I was sitting with Aisha, grooming each other and just relaxing as we watched over the pups.

"Aisha, why did you never tell anyone?" I asked her. "about your leg?"

She stopped mid lick and sighed. "Because it is a weakness."

"Being injured badly enough that you were barely hanging on to life is not a weakness! It was that man's fault that you were hurt." I tried to reason.

"Yeah, but it is healed now. I shouldn't have this twinge!" it was like she was scolding herself for something she had no control over. It was clear that I would not change her mind, so I decided to change the topic.

"Why do you think Bloom chose Flora?" I asked.

"Because she is a pacifist and can run like hell if she needs to." Aisha said simply.

"What?" I could understand the first part, but not the second. "What do you mean run like hell if she needs to?"

"We have all met DarkMud. Do you really think that he would just let the Alpha and Beta of a pack he is trying to take over go? If something happens, they will need to get out fast, but Stella is too confrontational, and my twinge only comes up if I run too hard. Flora can both negotiate and run without hurting her pride or her shoulder, so she was the obvious choice."

"What about Tecna and me?" I joked.

"You two are the best hunters ever. She wouldn't take that away from the pack especially since we have more mouths to feed." She laughed and looked over to the pups. "She also knows that you two would be able to keep the balance in the pack if they don't make it back."

"I'm really worried about Flora. Do you think she will be able to beat Stella?" I whispered to her.

"Yeah, she will beat her with ease." Aisha said without a shred of doubt.

"But don't you think that Stella is stronger than her?" I said, startled.

"But Stella didn't just insult Flora with her challenge…" Aisha whispered, and the realization struck me hard.

"You mean that?!"

"Yes, Flora will not be alone in this fight."

Aisha volunteered to keep watch over the sleeping pups while Flora and Stella fought for the position of Beta. It was chilly tonight, so Faragonda, Tecna, and I huddled together while Bloom sat on her look out, watching over the fight.

Flora and Stella didn't even acknowledge each other as they bowed to Bloom respectfully, and began to circle each other. Flora seemed more relaxed than Stella, but then again, she was guaranteed to win this skirmish.

Suddenly, Stella lunged forwards, mouth wide open and teeth bared. Flora rolled to the left and rammed into Stella's side. Stella rolled and managed to grab Flora's paw. She held tight and flipped Flora over herself. Flora rolled again, jumped forwards, and grabbed her scruff. Flora bit down hard, not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough for Stella to yelp in pain. After she yelped, Flora immediately let go, but Stella grabbed her by the neck and pinned her down. It was apparent that the two didn't want to hurt each other, but it honestly looked like Stella could kill Flora at this moment.

A dark red blur slammed into Stella and she landed hard, completely winded and shocked.

"Bloom, Why?" she gasped.

"Because in challenging Flora, my beta, you have insulted my decision making." She snarled.

"I never insulted you, Bloom." She whimpered.

"Then why do you believe I have made the wrong decision?" Bloom was now face to face with Stella.

"I- I never wanted to…" something seemed to dawn on her. "What am I doing?"

"Trying to make sense of a last minute decision I made. I am sorry that I didn't take you aside and explained my reasoning. Please forgive me." Bloom lowered her tail.

"…No, I was wrong to do this. I am so sorry." She nuzzled Bloom and ran to Flora. "Flora, you will be a great beta. I'm so sorry that I took it this far."

"It's fine, friends?" Flora raised her tail happily.

"Friends," the two nuzzled each other.

"End of crisis." Faragonda chuckled ."And on to more pressing matters."

Tecna's Pov

It has been a week since Flora and Stella's falling out. The two have begun hunting together more, probably to strengthen the fractured bonds from the fight, but they have become probably the best bird hunting team ever in the history of wolves.

All of us have bonded with the pups, who have really come out of their shell. Amber and Ice love to rough house and be silly while Night tends to hang around Flora or Musa. Because of Night's attachment to Musa, I have had to go hunting with others. It became very apparent that Stella and I are not the best hunting team, Flora and Aisha always hunt together, so that leaves Bloom. We work well together, but it feels weird not hunting with Musa after working exclusively with her for so long. Today was one of those days where I was to hunt with Bloom, but we were not in our normal hunting grounds. We decided to try and hunt the meadows again for the first time since Aisha got back. We always tended to keep from hunting in the meadow where Aisha got hurt, but none of us are willing to give up thus the massive part of our territory.

Bloom and I had just caught our first turkey when a scent hit my nose and I knew for a fact that Bloom noticed it as well. Three of DarkMud's wolves.

"What do you think you are doing here?!" Bloom demanded, raising her tail.

"Just some scavenging…for a turkey." A red brown wolf said slyly, staring at the bird we just caught.

"So you are saying you aren't good enough to catch your own?" I said innocently.

"Why catch our own when we can just take yours?" the red brown wolf lunged forwards and tried to grab the turkey, but Bloom slammed her paw down on his head and bit down on his muzzle hard. The other two wolves with him lunged forwards at me, but I slipped out of the way, causing then to smash into each other. I didn't have time to laugh at their stupidity because one of the wolves tumbled into Bloom, causing her to release the male she pinned down. The one she released took that moment to grab the turkey and take off running to the border of our territory.

"Oh no you don't!" Bloom snarled and took off after him. I tripped up the other two and followed them. We chased him past our boundaries and to a field with a black stripe crossing it. As we neared the black stripe, I heard something familiar. I yelped a warning to Bloom as I slowed down.

She was two strides into the black stripe when something incredibly fast jumped over the hill. I watched in horror as it slammed into Bloom, full force, sending her flying into the air. She made a sickening crunch sound as she hit the ground.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Roxy's Pov

Apparently, Headmaster Saladin and Miss Griffon knew as well, but neither of them were willing to do anything since they didn't know what happened to Faragonda. I told them where she was and what happened, but they were still hesitant to do anything since the woman still had Daphne and the other teachers under her thumb. Daphne said she spoke to the other teachers about it and all of them agreed that they didn't care if they got hurt, they just wanted the students safe.

Tess and Jeremy have kept me up to date with the pack, but they have said that they have been getting into skirmishes with an invading pack. They also said that the new pack consists of at least ten males and no females. At first I was worried about what the girls would do, but Tess assured me that if anything, I should be worried about the girls killing the new wolves. I told the guys about it, and they all laughed when Tess, over the phone, told the story of Stella ripping out one of the male's belly fur.

I was sure that the girls would be okay until we figured out something to do for them, so I was not expecting a call from Tess with bad news. She called me during one of my class periods, so I didn't answer, but then she texted me something that made my hearing stop. She said 'Something bad happened, I need to talk to you. Now.' I immediately asked to be excused and called her back as fast as I could.

"Roxy… Something really bad has happened." Tess said quietly.

"What happened?!"

"Some morons were drag racing on one of the closed off roads. Bloom and Tecna were chasing one of the invading wolves off of their territory and crossed that road… and Bloom was hit, hard." Tess began to cry. "She isn't doing well, I don't think she is going to make it."

I began crying as well. My back hit the wall and I slid down slowly, hugging my knees to my chest. Tess tried to comfort me, even though she was crying as well. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Miss "Faragonda" looming over me.

"Is something the matter dear?" she asked.

"I just- My- My friend got hurt and I-" I stammered.

"Here, no more class to day for you. Go to your room and get some rest. You can visit her anytime." She helped me up and sent me on my way.

I wanted to kill her. I wanted her dead for all if the pain she has caused. If it wasn't for her, the girls would be human, Aisha wouldn't have been shot, Bloom would have been fine, and everything would be just the way it should be.

After I gathered myself, I opened a portal and arrived at the Nature reserve. I transformed and flew to the veterinarian's office where Aisha was treated. Tess was waiting for me outside and quickly ushered me in. She led me to a back room and I felt bile rise in my throat.

There she was… Hooked up to multiple machines and tubes that were down her throat… was Bloom. She was missing fur all over her body and was covered in bandages that crisscrossed all around her. Her gorgeous blue eyes were half open and rolled up to the ceiling.

"Oh Bloom…" my voice cracked as I lightly touched her cheek.

"She has multiple broken bones, internal damage, and multiple road burns all around her body. She is healing faster than normal wolves, but it may not be enough… She is strong though, she survived getting hit by a car that was going at least twenty times over the speed limit and was able to make it all the way back here without dying." The main vet said to me, but that didn't make me feel any better. "Hey, I have seen much worse and have watched others die from less, be happy that she still has the will to hang on."

I hugged her neck and silently cried into her fur. I cried even harder as I noticed that her fur was not really dirty, but caked in dry blood. It took me a while to finally calm down, but when I did, I picked up my phone and called the guys and Thoren.

Tecna's Pov

"Tecna, it wasn't your fault. It was that human thing that struck her. There was no chance for either of you to do anything about it." Musa tried to console me, but I only curled up into a tighter ball and buried my head in her side.

"Don't feel bad Tecna, Bloom doesn't like it when we are sad." I felt Amber climb over me and wiggled her way under my chin "We gotta be strong so she won't worry about us while she is gone."

"Amber is right, Bloom will be back. They saved Aisha, they can save her." Musa licked my muzzle.

"Tecna, Musa, I need to speak with you." Flora's voice called for me from outside the den. "Go on pups, if you stay in the den, I will bring you a treat later." Ice and Night scampered in and Ice barreled into Amber.

I walked out of the den with the help of Musa and found the girls and Faragonda sitting in a tight circle, waiting for us. I sat down next to Stella and we began our meeting

"First off, I want to get the naming of our new beta out of the way… Aisha, will you accept this role?" Flora asked her. Oh yeah… Flora is the Alpha now… She was Bloom's beta, so she had to take her place and name a new beta.

"Of course I would." Aisha bowed her head and scooted closer to Flora.

"Now, there is something that Bloom and I discussed confidentially before, but now that she is gone, I wish to consult all of you." We exchanged glances and turned back to Flora. "I propose that we leave this territory."

"What! Why?" We all said at once.

"A couple of reasons. One, we could possibly have a war with DarkMud and his pack of over ten other males, and the other reason… it is just my opinion, but there has been a lot of pain here, and I would personally like to get away from all of it."

"… I agree. We are too small of a pack to face them and we have experienced too much pain here. I want to hold out hope that Bloom will be fine, but she is gone now. There are large parts of our territory that we stay away from because of our memories. We keep away from the mountain, the meadow, and I for one will not be going to the black line ever again." I said after a moment.

"Yeah, I think that would be the best course of action." Faragonda agreed and Aisha nodded her head in agreement.

"But we can't let them win!" Stella jumped up.

"We won't win in a fight with them anyways." Musa retorted. "We already lost Bloom, I for one don't want to lose another."

Stella took it the worst out of everyone when I stumbled home and said that Bloom may be dead. She took off in the direction of the Black line and we could all hear her howling for Bloom for the rest of the night. After I told her that the humans that saved Aisha took her away, she keeps saying that she will come back.

"Well if we do leave, who will be there for Bloom?!" She growled.

"Stella…" I began, not sure how to get her on our side.

"Stella, do you think Bloom would want us to wait for her if it meant risking our lives?" Flora asked.

She had her there. Stella opened and closed her mouth a few times, and then collapsed to the ground. "She can't be gone! I- I can't lose her!" she sobbed.

We gathered around her and began grooming and comforting her. I have no idea how long we sat there with her, but it was a long time. Stella and Bloom were the closest of friends. They were like me and Musa or Flora and Aisha, inseparable at times. I watched Bloom get mangled, but her heart was broken the moment I told her what happened. I don't know what I would do if I lost Musa.

"Fine, when do we leave?" Stella said after a moment.

"As soon as possible." Flora answered her softly.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Flora's Pov

"This is it…" I sighed. "The grotto and our territory is all yours."

"I still don't have any females in my pack." Dark Mud murmured.

I looked at him darkly. "You have our territory. Don't press your luck or I will hurt you." I snarled. Bloom is gone, our territory is gone, all we have now is each other… and I won't let anyone go now.

I exited the grotto and ran northwards to catch up with the others. I told Aisha to start without me so I could meet with Dark Mud and give him the territory without any chance of him pursuing us. It didn't take me long to catch their scent and follow it all the way to them.

They were waiting for me at the edge of our territory when I finally caught up with them.

"Flora… are you sure about this?" Aisha asked, I could see the same question reflect in the eyes of the others.

"Yes, let's get going." No, we should stay. My words didn't reflect my thoughts, but I knew that this was the best course of action.

[Flashback]

"Flora, what would you say if I told you that I was thinking about us moving?" Bloom asked me.

"I would think you were crazy!" I laughed, but the look in her eye cut me off. "… You're serious?"

"Yes. Think about it. We have Dark Mud breathing down our necks, we still have no idea what happened to us in that cave, and none of us feel safe in that massive meadow that takes up most of our territory because of what happened to Aisha. I honestly think that moving somewhere else would be better for all of us, especially the cubs." She explained.

"I understand, but where would we go?" I asked.

"Somewhere up north."

[End Flashback]

"So where are we going exactly?" Stella asked me.

"Somewhere safe and full of prey and shelter." I said.

Musa's Pov

"Ready pups? It's time to go!" I barked, riling up the pups to keep their spirits up. I have to admit though… Those three who can only be around three months old now, but they kept all of our spirits up. Amber and Ice especially have seemed to put extra effort into making us smile. Night on the other hand has just seemed to always be there when one of us was down. Especially with Tecna and Stella. He is always there to give and receive cuddles.

They really have become the saviors of our pack. We might still be at the Grotto preparing for a fight if it weren't for them. We would have done what we thought was best for us, fighting to keep our territory, without thinking of what the consequences would be.

"Musa, when do you think we will get there?" Night asked.

"Where will our new den be?" Ice asked.

"What will our new home look like?" Amber asked. Amber's question sent the pups off into a frenzy, imagining what the new den would look like, what would be nearby, and what the perfect territory and den would look like. I'm glad the pups can change their focus so quickly. They can go from uncertain too optimistic in less than two seconds.

Sky's Pov

I burst into the vet's office and followed Tess into the back. My heart dropped as I saw Bloom bloody and attached to multiple machines.

"How is she?" I asked Roxy, who was stroking Bloom's fur.

"Alive, but not good. I have no idea how she is still alive… but she is and she is fighting." She sighed. I walked over to her and placed my hand on Bloom's cheek.

"Will she make it?"

"We aren't sure."

Bloom's Pov

It hurts… Everything hurts… Why? Why did this happen?! I need to get back to the pack… but I can't move. I can't move anything! I can't even open my eyes! I hear voices… Roxy? Sky? Sky… I… I love Sky! Sky… the crown prince of Eraklyon… Sky… My HUMAN boyfriend! I… I am- was a human!

Everything came flooding back to me… The mirror, the ominous feeling, waking up as a wolf and not remembering anything. I want to move, but I can't. I remember… a car. A car that was going way faster than it should have been going. I remember blacking out from the pain. I remember… Dark Mud. I have to get better fast and get back to them before something happens between the two packs.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Bloom's Pov

It took me almost two months to get myself back up on my feet. Roxy, Sky, and Daphne visit me often, but they never stay long since something was up at Alfea. I wanted to tell them that I remembered… but something held me back. I don't know why, but I don't think it would be a good idea to tell them.

Today is one of the rare days that all three of them are here. I like being around them, but I would rather be with the pack… my pack. My head is in Daphne's lap and she is scratching my ears, Roxy and Sky are petting my back, and I am in heaven.

"… Daphne, how is everything at Alfea?" Sky asked my sister.

"Not good. The impostor has started taking magic from students who get in the slightest amount of trouble as 'punishment'. She is gaining more and more magic by the day." I flinched at her answer.

"Huh? Is something wrong Bloom?" Roxy asked me, noticing how I tensed up.

I looked up at her with a shocked and concerned expression and she gasped.

"Do you- do you remember us?!" she asked, completely shocked.

I looked up to Daphne and whimpered to her. She gasped as well and hugged my neck.

"You remember us!" she cried into my fur.

"Yeah, I remember you, but what's happening at Alfea?!" I said after Roxy cast her animal speech spell on me.

"Someone is impersonating Faragonda and is taking magic from the teachers and students." Roxy explained quickly.

"What can I do to help?" the impostor must have been the presence I sensed back at Alfea before I became a wolf, and if the impostor is stronger than when I first sensed her… we need to take care of her quickly.

"Griffon and Saladin are supposedly making a plan to stop her, but it doesn't seem like they are doing anything. I don't think anyone can do anything at the moment, especially since the impostor has the teachers of Alfea and now most of the students under her thumb." Sky said.

"Oh…" I said quietly.

"But you can come back anyways just to see what you can do." Roxy said excitedly.

I don't want to. Said a voice in the back of my head. "Of course." Is what came out of my mouth.

Stella's Pov

"Come on Stella, hurry up!" Amber squeaked excitedly as we made our way through our new territory. Today is a big day for the pups. We are teaching them to hunt and I was asked to teach Amber. Flora is teaching Night and Musa is teaching Ice. Our new territory is very woody and mountainous, but we are well away from humans and other wolf packs.

"Now remember, Body low, head up, and keep downwind." I reminded the pup as we spotted a rabbit at the same time.

"Right." She answered simply and set to work. I was tempted to catch the rabbit myself since it was half her size, but Amber is always up for challenges, plus she would be angry with me if I interfered.

She was doing really well. She was downwind of the rabbit, her nose was flared, taking in all of the scents around her, and she kept her body low enough that she was barely visible in the tall grass. But suddenly, she stopped.

I was a little annoyed at her, so I didn't notice why she stopped at first, but when I did. I knew that I needed to get her out as fast as possible. A massive brown bear was lumbering towards her.

"AMBER GET OUT OF THERE!" I screeched at the pup, but it was no use. She was frozen to the spot. I raced to her and turned to snarl at the bear, warning it to not lay a claw on my pup. The bear reared on its back legs and roared at me "AMBER MOVE!"

I slammed my paw into her side, knocking her out of it. She yelped in surprise and took off down the mountain side. "NOT TOWARDS THE DEN, HEAD TO THE MEADOW!" I howled to her.

I barely dodged the bear's massive paw and took off after her. I could hear the bear thundering after us, and then I ran into a familiar wolf.

"Musa! Where's Ice?!" I yelped to Musa.

"Over there, why?" she asked.

"Because there is a bear on my tail and it wants wolf for dinner!" I said quickly. Musa gasped and quickly called Ice to her side, but it was too late, the bear was already on top of us. It let out a massive roar and swung a massive paw.

"ICE!" Musa and I howled when we noticed the bear hone in on his snow white body.

I lunged forwards and knocked him out of the way, but it didn't do anything. The bear's claws ripped through my side and just barely caught the side of Ice's face. The last thing I heard was Ice scream in pain.

Flora's Pov

Tecna, Aisha, and I raced to where we heard Ice's scream. I skidded to a stop as I saw a Massive bear looming over Ice, Stella, and Musa. I howled a battle cry as we charged the bear. I lunged for the back of its neck while Aisha and Tecna went for the others.

The bear lost it as soon as my teeth made contact with its thick hide. It swung around and reared on its hind legs. I held on desperately as my pack mates moved the others out of the way. Suddenly, the bear staggered backwards and slammed me into a tree. All the air was immediately knocked out of me and my vision blurred. I felt my grip on the bear loosen and I landed badly on my leg. I gasped, taking in as much air as possible before getting to my feet as fast as I could. I whipped around and saw that the others were all out of the way. I ran as fast as I could to get away from the bear.

"Flora look out!" Aisha howled a warning.

I turned to see the bear was running after me, but I got an idea. I spun on one leg and charged the bear, taking it by surprise, and rushing past it. I then spotted a mangled looking tree and jumped up it. I jumped to the next tree with sturdy branches and then several others after that. Once I was certain I lost the bear, I jumped down and collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.

I need to get back to the pack… but my back and leg are killing me. My paw has become swollen and I am positive I bruised most of my back, but I have to get back. I… have to… get… back… my vision faded to black.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Amber's Pov

"Amber, wake up." Night's voice roused me from my dreamless sleep. "Come on, Aisha wants us to help hunt for the others."

Life just went from slightly tough to challenging within only a few hours. Ice, Stella, Musa, and Flora were greatly injured from the fight with the bear. Stella has several large gashes on her side, Ice was hit on the left side of his face and he may become blind in his left eye, Musa has at least four broken ribs from being stepped on, but Flora was the worst overall. She twisted her leg, bruised her back and ribs, and she hasn't woken up since yesterday.

Bloom is gone, Stella, Musa, Ice, and Flora are injured, which means we only have Aisha, Faragonda, and Tecna, which also means Night and I need to step it up in the pack. We started hunting practice a week or two ago, so we are still beginners, but that doesn't mean we can't try.

Night and I tried to sneak out of the den without Aisha or Tecna noticing, but nothing gets past Faragonda.

"Where do you two think you're going?" She barked from half way across our new den site.

"Out to play." I barked back.

"Oh really?" a voice came from behind me.

"Aisha! We just- uhh- we just wanted to go out and play near the field" I stumbled.

"With that bear still around?" her eyes were locked on me.

"We will be extremely careful." Night said in his quiet voice, taking Aisha off guard.

Night never talks back to the older wolves. He would normally let Ice or me do the talking while he sat behind us quietly.

"We just want to go explore." He continued.

"Fine, but Faragonda is going with you." Aisha said after a moment. "Oh, and while you are out, see if you can catch anything."

"I thought you wanted me to watch the den?" Faragonda said.

"I did, but we need to hunt for the others, and for ourselves. Every one of us who isn't hurt should at least try to hunt." She said.

"But what about the others, who will watch them?" Faragonda asked.

"Musa has woken up and is willing to sit watch. She isn't as bad as the others, and she can howl for help if she needs to."

"Musa's awake!?" Night yipped excitedly. "That's great! Maybe the others will be like her! Come on Amber, let's go so we can get back faster."

We began to leave as soon as Tecna entered the den site. I couldn't help but gasp at the sight of her. She was soaked to the bone and had a large cut on her head, but she still had a mangled rabbit in her jaws.

"That bear is going to be a bigger problem than we thought." She grumbled as she dropped the rabbit at Aisha's paws. "He chased me all the way to the falls where I temporarily learned how to fly before I hit the lake below and cracked my head on an underwater rock. I'm fine, but I am wet and unhappy."

I guess our perfect new home isn't as perfect as we first thought.

Roxy's Pov

We took Bloom back to Alfea the next day after I got permission for her to stay in my dorm. "Faragonda" said that as long as I kept her out of trouble, she would be welcomed at Alfea. I was temporarily worried that she would be able to sense Bloom's power, but even I had trouble sensing her powers for some reason. Daphne said she is limiting her powers to keep under the radar. It sucks that I can't ask her though. I mean, I could, but not all of the time. My animal speech power is for only a short period of time and it can be draining if I use it a lot, so most of the time I have to guess what she wants. I can kind of sense what she needs, but it isn't like I'm reading her mind.

It's been two days since Bloom came back and the guys and I decided to go out and get her some supervised exercise.

"I still don't get why we need to watch over her." Nex grumbled. "If she regained her memory, the others could too! We should go find them and get their memories back too!"

"They will regain their memories at their own pace." I reasoned.

"Well they need to get their memories faster." He huffed quietly and walked away.

"So what's the plan Roxy?" Sky asked me.

"Just follow my lead and if all else fails, I brought dog toys as a backup." I chuckled and rubbed between Bloom's ears as she trotted past me.

When we finally got to a good, secluded clearing, I dropped my backpack. I called to Bloom and started to run. Bloom happily followed me, trying to nip at the hem of my shirt. I playfully pushed her away and she pushed me back. After a while, the guys began to join in one by one. Bloom would be chasing one of us, then someone else would come and nudge her from behind to get her attention, and she would switch gears and chase the other person. We did this until all of us were completely wiped out, well, all but Bloom. She was still rearing to go, so I grabbed a tennis ball from my bag.

"Roxy… Don't you dare." She growled once she saw it. I threw the ball anyways and she shot after it. After a moment, she slowly walked back with her head low and dropped the mangled tennis ball in my lap. "Don't do it again." She growled in my ear.

I screwed up. I just offended an alpha wolf, and now she is less than happy with me. I keep thinking that she is her normal self again, but she isn't. She is a human in a wolf's body, and there is nothing I can do about it. I lowered my eyes and waited for her to move away from me.

"What was that about?" Sky asked me.

"I offended her and she put me in my place." I sighed.

"Oh." He said simply, then he sighed. "I guess I expected too much from this…"

"What do you mean?"

"I assumed things would kind of be back to normal when she got her memory back. I thought she would be herself again, just in wolf form, but she isn't."

"Sky, she is a wolf now, and an alpha too. Her instincts are fighting her human self. She is going to be a little off for a while until she works things out." I explained.

"I almost wish she didn't remember. She is so… commanding now, it's almost scary." He looked over to Bloom who was now very interested in a bush near by.

"It's her alpha instincts. She is supposed to be in control, at the head of her pack, and if she sees something she doesn't like, she faces it aggressively."

We continued talking for a while, but suddenly, we heard a high pitch squealing. We turned around to see Bloom half way in a bush with her head shaking wildly. After a moment, she backed out of the bush with a dead rabbit in her jaws. She trotted over to us and dropped it at Sky's feet.

"Umm," Sky stuttered. "Thank you Bloom, but you can eat it." She flicked her ear and picked the rabbit up again. She brought it up to each of us, offering up her catch before finally settling down but leaving the rabbit near us as if to say we could eat it later.

"What was that about?" Helia asked.

"I'm not sure." I answered, I know wolves share food with each other, but I don't think I have ever heard of something like this.

Later that night, I was just settling down when I noticed that Bloom was acting strange. She kept pacing around and looking out the window, like she was looking for something.

"Bloom, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Something doesn't feel right." She whined.

"What do you mean?"

"Something is off. I don't know how to explain it… but it feels like I need to go home." Her eyes locked with mine.

"Back to Domino or Gardenia?" I asked.

"Nether, back to my pack. Roxy, I don't know how I know this, but they need me. I need to get back to them, fast."

"But…" I wanted to argue with her, but something stopped me. There was a look in her eyes… something I don't think I have ever seen in her before. I have seen her worried and scared before, but this was different. It almost felt like anxiety. I guess it's understandable though. She has been away from her pack for two entire months, but what about us? The guys, Daphne, and I have all been worried sick about them, and just when one of them regains their memories, she leaves?

Suddenly, Bloom reaches up to me and licked my cheek "Roxy, I know this has been hard for you. This is going to be hard for me too. Leaving you and everyone else behind… But I know something is wrong. I need to go to them. Roxy, please."

"…Okay." I sniffed. "But the others aren't going to like it."


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Roxy's Pov

The next day, Bloom and I left right after my morning classes. I decided to tell the guys after the fact to avoid an argument. We got Tess and Jeremy to give us a ride all the way to the border of Bloom's territory, but something was off. Bloom was sniffing around furiously, but she wouldn't cross into the woods.

"What's wrong Bloom?"

"It seems that my pack has moved on without me."

Bloom's Pov

"What do you mean they moved on without you?!" Roxy gasped.

"With the condition I was in, I wouldn't be surprised if they thought I was dead. Also, I told Flora a while ago that I wanted us to move from our territory." I sighed.

"Why did you want to move?"

"Because of Dark Mud." I quickly explained the impending war that we would have had.

"We knew you two were having trouble with each other, but I didn't know it was that bad."

"Yeah, it was pretty bad, and now I have to go to that pack and ask which way they went." I grumbled as I began walking to the forest.

"Should I go with you?" Roxy asked.

"No, I have no clue how they would act around you. They aren't like us. They are real, wild wolves." I said. "Don't wait for me."

I made my way through the familiar woods until I finally got to the Grotto.

"Who goes there?!" A snarl came from in front of me and two young males jumped out from the bushes.

"I am the alpha of the pack that used to live here. I need to speak with your alpha as soon as possible. Can you tell Dark Mud that I am here?" I asked.

"Nook, wait here with her, I will talk to Alpha." The small brown wolf said to the tan one, it's strange though. These two look like cubs, but they're already guarding their den?

"How old are you?" I asked Nook after the other left.

"What's it to you?" he snarled, but I gave him the eye and he remembered his place. "Almost two."

"Is the brown one your brother?"

"Yeah, his name is Bramble, we have another brother named Dust, but he is the omega."

"Your pack has an omega?"

"All packs do… except yours?"

"We don't have need for an omega, we are all close friends, none better than the other." I explained.

"But you are the Alpha and you have a beta, you two are better than the others." He challenged.

"I am a born alpha and have been their alpha for as long as we have been together. I did not take charge, but they chose me. I chose my beta because of the situation we were in with your pack." I shot back.

"Is it really you, Bloom? Alpha Flora told me you were killed." Dark Mud's voice startled me.

"For a while, I wished I was dead." I sighed. "Some humans healed me and now I am trying to get back to my pack. Do you know which way they went?"

"Northwards to the mountains, but do you really want to go back? Your beta took over, you pack left you, and you still want to return to them?" he asked me.

"Yes, my beta did the right thing leaving and she did what a beta should do when the alpha disappears." I narrowed my eyes.

"You know, I smelled pups on her when she came to me, are they yours, or another of your pack mates pups?" he pressed.

"They are all of ours. Who their birth mother is irrelevant." I growled, trying to keep calm and not give away that they are his.

"Well, before you leave, spend the night at your old home. You can leave in the morning after a good night's rest and some food.

Darkmud's pack is a lot smaller than before. There were at least twelve males traveling with him when we first met, and now there are only seven.

"Darkmud killed a challenger not long after your pack left and he exiled the two wolves that openly supported him." Nook explained when I asked about it. "There was also some others who went rogue to find a mate or just get away from the pack."

Being in a real wolf pack is quite different than the way our pack lives. They are much rougher and their hierarchy is immediately noticeable. Darkmud was immediately shown respect and a tan male quickly joined his side. There were three other wolves that seemed to be playing very aggressively while another slept and a small grey cub hid in a corner of the grotto. Nook immediately went to the grey cub while Bramble stuck close to me.

"Bloom, this is our brother Dust-" Nook brought over the grey wolf but bramble cut him off.

"Omega, his name is Omega. Right Nook?" Bramble glared at his brother.

"Bramble, he's our brother! He may be Omega to you but he will always be Dusk to me!" Nook snarled at the brown wolf.

"He is Omega, Nook." A powerful voice seemed to shake the air.

I turned to see the tan beta wolf standing right next to me "But father!" Nook protested.

"No buts, if you don't call him that all of us will get hurt. My apologies, Bloom, if my sons have annoyed you. My name is Mountain, and I am the beta of this pack."

The name Mountain fits him perfectly. He is very tall and tightly built. Even as he moves, I can see powerful muscles ripple under his long, tan fur. His blue eyes seem to look straight through me, like I am just a speck of dust in his all-seeing gaze.

"Your sons were not bothering me, I actually am enjoying their company especially since I have been away from wolves for so long." I replied, trying not to let my alpha wolf instincts show.

"Good, but if they cause any trouble, tell me immediately." He sighed and returned to DarkMud's side.

Later that day, I got to see firsthand how omegas are treated in this pack. Nook and Bramble have stayed by my side ever since I got here, one to keep an eye on me and another just to talk and be friendly. Bramble seems to be trying to impress his pack mates by never letting me leave his sight. Nook on the other hand seemed to be very interested in my pack. It may be because of how divided his pack is. There seem to be two groups in the pack and nether seem to speak to each other.

Dust had wandered off a while ago. He seemed a bit intimidated by me, but I'm not sure why. Suddenly, there was a loud cry of pain. I whipped around to see two large males on top of Dust. I am up in a fraction of a second and charge over to him, but Nook and Mountain were faster. Nook barreled into one of the wolves that was now biting Dust while Mountain used his entire body to block the other from his son. Darkmud heard as well and came over to see what the commotion was about.

"Nook, Mountain, what's going on!" Darkmud growled.

"Bluff and Crag wounded my brother, that's what's going on!" Nook snarled at the alpha.

"Your brother is the omega, he can take it." Darkmud got close to Nooks face and bared his teeth. "Do not attack my head wolves again."

"No Darkmud, this is not right." Mountain challenged. "Look at him! He is hurt! My son is hurt!"

"And whose fault is that?" Darkmud answered. "Who took a mate, sired three pups under my command, and defended the brats even though I am the only alpha?"

"I did, and you were the one who killed your own sister because of it!" Mountain was now beyond angry. "I have watched my sons be bullied by you and your goons for too long now! I challenge you, Alpha Darkmud."

There was a collective gasp among the pack. Challenges within a pack are rare. The alpha and beta of a pack need to be in sync or else the pack can fall apart. I have already seen how divided the pack is, but could it be because of these two?

There was a moment of silence, and then Darkmud flew at Mountain. The two wolves clashed together with bone crunching force. Darkmud is smaller than Mountain, but he is much faster. Darkmud snapped at Mountain and then jumped out of the way of Mountain's jaws, just barley getting out of the way before getting bit. It was obvious that Mountain was getting angry. His moves were getting disorganized and more violent than precise.

Suddenly, Mountain swiped one of his large paws and caught the side of Darkmud's face. Then things turned around. Mountain began swinging his paws at Darkmud, battering his ears and the sides of his muzzle. Darkmud seemed dazed, so he wasn't able to dodge Mountain's massive jaws which crunched down hard on his skull.

Just like that, the fight was over. Mountain had won and now Darkmud lay bleeding on the ground. The entire pack congratulated Mountain, but only a few checked on Darkmud. Mountain walked up to the wounded wolf. "Darkmud, you have lost control of this pack. You may stay as a low ranking hunter, or you can leave and be alone. It's your choice."

"I would rather die than stay here." Dark mud slurred, he was barley standing and was having a hard time keeping his balance.

"Then leave." The alpha said simply.

We watched in silence as the defeated ex-alpha staggered out of the Grotto.

Next Day...

"I am truly sorry that you had to witness yesterday's events, Bloom." Mountain said to me the next day. "I hadn't planned to challenge him until my sons were full grown."

"What happened between you two? If I may ask." I looked in his deep blue eyes.

"Of course you may. Darkmud had a sister named Violet. Those two were the only survivors of their litter and he loved her very dearly. I fell in love with her. I fell in love with my best friend's sister and sired her offspring. When we found out, we decided to leave to start our own pack, but Darkmud is- was very overprotective of his sister. He tried to kill me when he found out we were leaving, but Violet jumped in the way. She survived, but she was too weak to leave so we made our family here, in the pack. She had or three sons and stayed with us for several months after, but her wound on her neck never healed and she died. Darkmud has never forgiven me and even blamed our cubs for her death."

"But then why did he make you beta?" I asked.

"Because it's what the pack wanted." He sighed. "They wanted a fair beta to help keep an abusive alpha in line. Even Mud's loyal supporters wanted me as beta."

Mountain has been apologizing for last night ever since the incident. Nook and his brothers have seemed to have had a fight because last night they clustered together, but today, Bramble seems to be angry with Nook and Dust.

I was getting ready to leave when Nook and Dust finally approached me. Today is apparently the day they become full adults, so they had a howl last night for them.

"Bloom, can we ask you something important?" Nook asked. "In private?"

I looked around. "Okay, what's up?"

"Dust and I would like to go with you and join your pack." Nook let out in one fast breath.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Aisha's pov

Things have started to look up. The others are recovering well, prey is plentiful, and the pups are becoming amazing little hunters. Ice has lost vision in his injured eye and is figuring things out still, but Night and Amber are good to him and help him around. Stella now sports three body length scars on her side, Musa has a bit of a limp and has gotten a cough, Tecna's cut on her head scarred, and Flora has been having trouble breathing. Faragonda said that everyone will heal in time, my leg twinge did, but with that bear around, time is something we might not have a lot of.

Flora has made it clear that no one is supposed to go out of the camp alone, and that there should always be a guard to watch out for that blood thirsty bear. The entire pack agreed completely, but Amber and Night have been regularly sneaking out of the camp. They always return with prey for us, but they could get themselves hurt. They don't seem to understand how badly we worry about them when they slip out at night.

"Amber, Night, can I talk to you for a moment?" I called to the two pups who were in the act of sneaking out once again.

"Oh, uhhh. Sure." Amber stumbled, looking back at her brother nervously.

"What do you two think you are doing?" I tried my best not to growl at them.

"We want to go to the falls and play by the river." Night lied.

"Do you two have any idea how stupid of an idea that is?!" I couldn't hold my temper anymore.

The pups recoiled like I bit them, but I was too upset to care. "There should always be one of us around you! Who knows where that bear is or when it could show back up! What do you think would happen If that monster found you two alone out there?" My voice cracked and the pups seemed to realize that I was more worried than angry at them.

"We're sorry Aisha, but we just wanted to help the pack. Things were really hard for a while and we thought it would help if we stepped up a little." Night looked me straight in the eyes and something hit me.

The pups aren't really pups anymore. They are almost a year old now, and have matured right under my nose. All three of them have grown considerably from when Flora found them. Both Night and Ice will be much larger than us when they are adults, and Amber will still be small, but she will be unmatched in speed.

"I just- all of us worry about you when you leave. We don't want anything to happen to you. We don't want what happened to Ice to happen to you." I admitted and hung my head low.

"I'm sorry Aisha, we didn't mean to worry any of you." The two said simultaneously and began to lick my muzzle.

"Just- from now on, get someone to go with you when you want to hunt." I mumbled.

Bloom's pov

It has been only two days since Dust, Nook and I left Mountain's pack. I still feel strange taking the two with me. They may be adults to their pack, but they are basically teenagers. And I just took them from their father.

"Why do you want to join my pack? You two will have a better life now that Darkmud is gone." I said, dumbfounded.

"Our father may run this pack, but we were a bad litter to the pack, and now our father is Alpha. Bramble was going to leave with us, but he decided he would live better as a loner, at least, for a little while." Nook explained.

"Also, the way you spoke about your pack… You care about them all equally. They are your family and no wolf is better than the other. We want to be a part of that. I, personally, want to feel what that is like. To not have a divided pack and be at the bottom of both." Dust spoke up.

I looked into his eyes. There was much pain in his eyes, and a sincere light that there was no way that I could refuse.

Mountain was upset to see all of his sons leave the pack, but at the same time, proud that they made their own decisions and were following their own paths. We left that morning and have made good progress in two days.

We are currently deep within the territory of another pack, but since there are only three of us, we haven't been found yet. How long that will last though, I have no clue. From what I can tell, this is no normal pack. Their territory is massive, I have scented over twenty different wolves and we have only made it half way through here, and the pack howled last night. I have never heard more wolves together in one place, and since I was a trespasser in this pack, it was terrifying. None of us could sleep that night, and now we are mindlessly trotting through their territory, trying to leave as quickly and quietly as we can.

"Man, how big is this territory?" Nook whispered as we crossed a small brook.

"Not big enough for you three to go unnoticed." A deep growl echoed through the trees.

I whipped my head around to see three wolves charging at us "Run!" I howled to Dust and Nook, who didn't hesitate to charge forwards.

I stayed behind them, but far enough ahead from the pack wolves to stay out of their reach. Suddenly, three other wolves erupted from the bushes, scaring the living daylights out of the three of us, but also making me realize something. We are being hunted. That's why I smelled so many wolves around here. They were trying to observe us and set up an ambush. But I can't think about that now right now, I need to keep the three of us alive.

In a split second decision, I charged forwards and rammed head first into a strong looking female. Nook and Dust yelped for me, but I yelled at them to keep going.

"You have guts, wolf" the female growled. "But your cubs won't get far."

I tried to turn away, but the five other wolves surrounded me. "Take her to the rocks. Alpha will decide what to do with them there." She snarled in my ear as I took a submissive stance.

The pack wolves guarded me from all sides as they took me up the mountain and to some rocky crags.

"Wait here, I'll get the alpha." The white female growled.

I sat down and the other wolves who accompanied her sat around me and watched my every move. A while later, Dust and Nook were brought to the Crags as well. They ran to my side and cowered behind me. I knew exactly what they were doing. They were pretending to be my pups so they won't consider us a real pack that might challenge them. I stood in front of them defensively, but still kept my head and tail low.

The white female walked up to me followed closely by an old grey male and a black male who I assumed to be the Alpha of the pack.

"So these are the three rogues running around my territory? A female and her two cubs?" The black wolf growled and turned to me. "What are you doing in my territory?"

I looked the black wolf evenly in the eyes "I am just trying to return to my pack. We were left behind over two months ago and I am trying to track them down."

"And how did that happen?" The white wolf snarled.

"I was injured and the pack my believed I was dead. Also, these two are not my cubs, I picked them up a little south from here and they are to join my pack." I explained.

"Is that so?" the black wolf asked and I nodded my head. "Well your pack never came through here. I would remember if an entire pack moved through my territory. What are your names?"

"My name is Bloom, the tan one is Nook and his brother is Dust." I answered him, not breaking eye contact.

"Who were you to your pack?" he asked me, moving even closer to my face.

My wolf instincts were roaring in my ears "I am the Alpha of my pack." I answered, trying not to growl as he tried to push me into submission.

He backed up, completely unsurprised. "Well then Alpha Bloom, I am Alpha Shade and the female beside me is my mate Snow. The old one behind me is our elder Bronze. Not too long ago, I got a report that a pack passed by our territory around a month and a half ago. It was moderately sized and my scout reported that there were cubs traveling with them. Does that sound like your pack?"

"Yes it does! Do you know which way they went?" I asked, feeling excitement rise within me.

"I shall tell you tomorrow once you three have rested and you and I have talked in private." Shade motioned for me to follow him.

Faragonda's Pov

Being in a pack is supposed to be simple and fun. You are surrounded by loved ones who you worked and play together with each day. You should be watching the pack thrive, not be tortured by a bloodthirsty bear.

"Faragonda, can I talk to you?" Flora called for me from across the camp we established.

I jumped down from my look out rock and trotted over to her. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I am worried about the pack." She sighed heavily.

"We are getting better though, wounds are healing, and prey is plentiful."

"But winter is just around the corner and we are still cowering in fear of a bear that is craving wolf meat. Sure it will hibernate during winter, but what about when it wakes up in summer? Do we really want to live like that? In constant fear?" Her words were filled with doubt and worry.

"Flora, you don't have to deal with this alone. Can you do something for me?" I asked her and she nodded her head slowly. "Call Aisha."

Flora tipped her head back and howled for her beta. Aisha was here in moments and immediately took her place by Flora's side. I explained what was going on and waited for Aisha to give her thoughts.

"I agree that something needs to be done, but what? We can't move again so close to autumn. Autumn is when we need a secure den for the pups. They are much older now, but they have never experienced winter. The bear will hibernate in the winter, but it will be hungry when it wakes up, and it seems to have a liking for wolf meat." Aisha sighed.

"I agree." I muttered, then an idea came to me "What if we stay till summer and leave while it is still weak? Then we have a solid den during winter and won't have to worry much about the bear."

Flora and Aisha looked at each other, then back to me. "But what about right now?" Aisha asked.

"We do what wolves do best." Flora said. "We work together. That bear caught us off guard the first few times, but not anymore. Now, we will fight back together, as a real pack."

Nook's Pov

This pack has been very nice to us. We ate our fills after them, they shared stories with us, and they invited us to howl with them before we leave tomorrow. Bloom and the alphas of the super pack have been talking a lot. Apparently, the super pack shares one of its farthest borders with Bloom's pack. The Alphas ever offered to escort us to them. All they want in return is peace between the packs. It makes sense though, that you want to befriend neighboring packs. The super pack may not need to worry about us though, but a fight may cause turmoil in a pack with over thirty individual wolves and a pregnant alpha.

Dust and I were sharing stories with some other wolves of our age when I heard Bloom scream.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN A WOLF EATING BEAR LIVES IN THEIR TERRITORY!?"


	23. Chapter 22

Musa's Pov

I sighed in delight as the sunlight warmed my body. Today had the makings of a perfect day. Sunny, not a cloud in the sky, a light breeze, and the birds were singing beautifully in the trees. And then I heard something. Something that turned my blood cold. I sat up on my rock quickly and turned around. The bear found us.

Tecna's Pov

I heard the roar loud and clear from across the den site. I sprang to my feet and whipped around to see the bear looming over Musa. No! I screamed in my head as the bear swung a massive paw at my best friend. Luckily, Musa managed to roll out of the way just in time. I threw my head back and let out the loudest howl I ever made. Flora and Aisha erupted from the den entrance just as I finished my call.

"Tecna, get the pups out of here! Musa, Go Find Stella and Faragonda! We'll hold it off!" Flora snarled.

I watched in horror as Aisha and Flora launched themselves in the bear's wake, taking its attention off Musa. I was frozen to the spot.

"Tecna, snap out of it!" Musa head butted me in the side. "Get the pups out of here now! Take them to the neighboring pack if you have to. I'm sure they won't want a bear in their territory so you should be safe there."

I snapped out of my daze and ran to the burrow where the pups were hiding. I barked at them to follow me, which they did without question, and I led them out towards the south. I was so focused on them that I didn't even realize who raced up to me.

Dust's Pov

Bloom couldn't wait till the next day to get to her pack. She wanted to get to her pack as soon as she could to protect her pack- no, her family. She didn't want us to come with her though, because of the bear. We only have known her for a short time, but she already is willing to go into danger on her own to keep us safe. That is how an alpha should be. That is how Shade, Snow, Bloom, and my father Mountain are, and they are what DarkMud never was.

Nook and I obviously followed Bloom. Shade, Snow, and another small wolf named Gnat came to escort us to the border. We kept a fast pace, with Bloom and Shade in the lead and the rest of us struggling to keep up. Snow in particular was having some difficulties keeping the pace, but she didn't complain.

Bloom showed great compassion to Snow. Even though she was desperate to return to her family, she noticed Snow lagging behind and stopped several times, saying that her side where she was injured was hurting. I heard that Snow was considered to be the weakest of her litter, but she worked the hardest out of the pack and became the life mate of her closest friend, who took control of a pack nearby.

We had just reached the border when the loudest howl I ever heard split the air, followed by the roar of a bear. Bloom immediately rushed forwards, but Shade caught her by the scruff of her neck and held her down.

"Bloom, its suicide to go after that bear! At least think up a plan!" the dark alpha berated her.

"I need to get to them! The pups! My friends! I can't let them die!" She wasn't whining, she was screaming. "Please! I need to save them!"

"At least think about your youngsters!" Snow's words made Bloom freeze "Do you really want them to follow you into the claws of that blood thirsty bear?"

She went quiet for a moment. Shade let her go as she stood up slowly. "Shade, Snow," she began slowly, then she turned and looked Shade in the eyes "If I don't come back, please take care of them."

Nook and I lunged forwards as she took off towards the howls. Shade and Gnat held us back for a while, but they couldn't keep us down. We are brothers. The three may be in the same pack together, but nothing is stronger than our connection. We shared a look and moved as one. Nook, who was on my right, ducked left, while I jumped right. Nook rolled under me and I bounded over him with ease. We managed to confuse the three long enough to slip past them and race after our alpha.

It didn't take long to catch up to her though, because she had bumped into one of her pack mates and three pups. The three pups jumped around her excitedly as the other albino wolf who had a scar on the top of her head nuzzled Bloom.

"Tecna, what's going on?" Bloom finally asked the wolf after a moment.

"A bear has been terrorizing our pack for a while now, and it just found our den. Flora told me to take the pups out of the territory until it is safe." The wolf, Tecna, replied.

Bloom looked back at us in surprise, and then relief. "Boys, take the pups, Amber, Ice, and Night, to safety. Tecna and I are going back for the others." She indicated to each of the pups in turn.

"Take care of them." Tecna seemed to be in a state of shock, but she was conscious enough to still worry about the pups in her possession.

"Of course Bloom." Nook answered and I nodded my head.

We watched as Tecna lead Bloom to the rest of her pack. I looked down to the pups and traded glances with Nook.

We both had the same thought, but the pup Amber took the words right out of my mouth.

"Now what?" She looked between us.

Bloom's Pov

The new territory was beautiful, but I didn't have the time to take it all in. Tecna led the way through the forest and to a small clearing. I didn't have to guess what was in the clearing. I could hear what I was about to meet, but that didn't stop my stomach from turning to stone as I burst into the clearing.

Flora and Aisha were desperately trying to keep hold of the back of the bear's neck while Stella and Musa snapped at its legs to distract it. I howled my battle cry and ran down to help with Tecna right on my tail.

I latched myself onto the Bear's forearm and Tecna went for its other arm. I couldn't tell if the others were surprised or happy to see me, but we were all preoccupied at the moment. We all had our jobs. Stella, Musa, Tecna, and I restrained the bear while Flora and Aisha were to go for the kill. I was confident that we would win, but I was very, very wrong.

In one movement, the bear threw Tecna and me from its front legs and kicked off Stella in the process. The others knew it wasn't safe, so they let go and jumped out of the way. We circled the bear without a word, using our bodies to communicate and plan our next move. Flora ran forwards and snapped at the bear. It whirled around and tried to bite her, but she was too fast and quickly sprang back out of the way. Then Tecna ran up to it and did the same.

We repeated this tactic for a while, hoping to tire out the bear, but it wasn't working. I could feel the heat of anger rising in my stomach to my throat, begging to be released, but I didn't know how to do it.

Suddenly, Flora and Aisha sprang forwards at once, snapped at the bear and rushed back, slightly confusing the behemoth. I saw my chance. I ran forwards and sank my teeth deep into the bear's neck near its head, hoping that it wouldn't be able to reach me. The good thing was that I was right, the bear couldn't move its head around to bite me, but the bad thing was that my attack was not working the way I thought it would.

I thought that if I bit hard enough, I would be able to kill it by strangulation or by breaking its neck, but it had thicker skin than I had thought. I bit down harder, hoping to do something, anything to slow it down, but then something hit my side hard. In my desperation, I didn't realize that the bear had reared up and swung one of its paws at me.

The claws ripped down my side. I gasped in pain, loosening my grip on the bear I was thrown a good fifteen feet away right on a large stone. I landed hard and my vision went white. My ears were ringing and I couldn't breathe for a while. I heard the others call out for me, but no one came to my side. They were worried, but knew that all of us could end up dying, including me if they moved away from the bear.

My vision cleared and I looked over to the fight. Flora and Aisha had latched onto its neck, trying to do the same thing I did, but Tecna and Musa were latched onto its forelegs. It wasn't enough though, the bear threw then easily again. Can nothing stop this monster? I thought to myself.

The warmth in my stomach was now a burning inferno demanding to be released, so I did. I let go of the heat and let it consume my body.


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Flora's Pov

I hit the ground hard. It took me a moment to gather myself before I sprang to my feet again, but something in the corner of my eye stopped me from going back to the bear. Bloom, who was now struggling to her feet, was on fire. Her black markings had turned bright red and fire was licking up her legs, consuming her body slowly. She let out an earth shaking howl that sent shivers through my body right before she was completely engulfed.

The others, and even the bear stopped to watch Bloom. When the flames began to subside, I gasped at her transformation.

Her fur was its normal dark red color, but her black markings had changed drastically. There was a black dragon on both of her sides. The black markings on her legs had turned gold and looked like small flashes of fire was creeping up her legs, and her tail. Her face was now covered in gold markings that highlighted her eyes and liked her muzzle. She had grown to at least twice her size. She stepped closer to the bear and growled a non-wolf-like growl that reminded me of a dragon… Whatever that is.

The bear readily accepted her challenge and charged Bloom. She didn't make a move until the bear was only a few meters in front of her. Suddenly, Bloom reared up on her hind paws and brought one of her fore paws down hard on the bear's head.

The others cheered as the bear landed heavily on the ground. The battle wasn't over yet though. It got to its paws and ran at Bloom again, but this time, it stood up and swatted at Bloom's head. She nimbly dodged the bear's heavy swings and took in a deep breath, puffing her chest out. I was expecting another earthshaking howl, but that was not what happened.

A large blast of fire erupted like a volcano from her mouth that hit the bear directly in the chest. It screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. It hissed in pain and then went still. I knew it wasn't going to live much longer. Bloom moved closer to the bear and bit down on its neck. She yanked it hard to the right, snapping its neck and ending this nightmare for good. She stepped away from the smoldering bear and threw her head back. She howled to the sky, announcing her victory to the world, and one by one, we joined her call. As the howl drew to the close, she turned back to her normal self and collapsed onto the ground.

Nook's Pov

We raced to Bloom's pack as soon as she howled. Snow, Shade, and Gnat decided to come as well since the bear used to terrorize their pack as well, and wanted to see its body. The three pups were hesitant to return, especially Ice who was apparently blinded in one eye by the bear. Amber has stuck close to my side since Bloom and Tecna left them with us, which is adorably annoying. Night has been oddly calm throughout this entire ordeal, quietly supporting his siblings and chatting with Shade and Gnat.

We reached a small opening in the woods to find several wolves surrounding Bloom near a burning pile of fur.

"What happened?!" Snow gasped and the wolves whipped around to stare at us.

"Pups!" a light brown wolf called to the pups who rushed to her side.

"Who are you?" demanded a darker brown wolf.

"I am Nook and this is my brother Dust. We came here with Alpha Bloom to join your pack." I said and lowered myself to the ground with Dust.

The dark brown wolf turned to Bloom, who came over with the others. "It's okay Aisha. They are telling the truth. Boys, these are my pack mates. The light brown one is Flora, the dark brown one is Aisha, the blue black one is Musa, the yellow one is Stella, you already met Tecna and the pups, and there is a silver one who is not here at the moment named Faragonda." Bloom introduced them in turn. "Girls, these are Nook and Dust, sons of the new Alpha of DarkMud's pack, Mountain."

"Wait. So he's dead?" Flora asked.

"More than likely. Mountain did crush his skull in. He was barely alive when he left, so I doubt he survived the night." Dust answered.

"What happened? Is anybody hurt?!" an old silver wolf burst into the clearing.

"Lupus?" Shade, Snow, and Gnat gasped.

"That's Faragonda." Bloom said to me, then she turned to Shade. "Who's Lupus?"

"An old silver female from our pack who went missing a long time ago." Shade sighed "She's probably dead by now. She was old when I took over ten years ago, I would be amazed if she was still alive."

Bloom had a thoughtful look, but it changed quickly when Flora stepped forwards. "I was beta when Bloom disappeared and took over in her absence, naming Aisha beta and moving the pack away. Now that Bloom has returned, I step down and give her back the title of Alpha."

"I also step down as beta." Aisha stepped forwards "It was nice being beta, but I would rather run around the territory without the title of beta on my back. I return the title of beta to Flora."

"As alpha of the neighboring territory," Shade began. "I would like to welcome you to the mountain side and thank you for taking care of the bear. I offer an alliance between our two packs, so we can live in peace and not in fear of each other."

"I agree Shade. I am in your debt." Bloom sighed.

Stella's Pov

"It is so good to have you back." I nuzzled Bloom's shoulder as we all settled down at the end of the day. Shade and the others went home and Nook, Dust, and the pups had already fallen asleep.

"It's good to be back with all of you, but there is something I need to tell all of you." She said slowly.

The others looked at her seriously. "Maybe about how you can turn into a massive wolf and breathe fire."

"It is part of that. I found out about our past." Her words turned my blood cold, but I couldn't help but feel excited.

"What is it? Tell us!" Musa yipped excitedly.

"How about I show you." As soon as the words left her mouth, a red aura surrounded her

It slowly branched out to the rest of us.

"What are you-" I was cut off when a flood of memories hit me full force. My eyes began to mist as I realized all of the things and people I had forgotten.

"Oh my…" Faragonda gasped. "We need to get to Alfea as soon as possible."

"I know. She led you to the Mirror in the first place, right?" Bloom said to her.

"Yes. I remember now. She led all of you to the mirror as well I guess." Faragonda sighed.

"Okay, I am starting to get a bit ticked… WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT?!" Musa growled.

"There is an Impostor at Alfea who is taking magic from the students. No one can do anything about her since she has all of the teachers at Alfea under her thumb. Cloud tower and Red fountain were devising a plan to take her down when I left." Bloom explained.

"Well, when are we leaving?" I asked, ready to get back to Alfea.

"Wait! What about the pups and the brothers?" Flora asked.

All of us stopped for a moment. What could we do? Leaving the brothers with the pups would place a big burden on their shoulders. One would have to watch them and the other would be hunting for four others.

"I think... we should sleep on it for now. All of us are exhausted from today and emotions are running a bit high." Bloom said, and all of us agreed.

Sky's Pov

Red Fountain and Cloud Tower finally devised a plan to handle the impostor, it was way too late.


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Roxy's Pov

We waited too long. The day the planned attack on the Impostor was to happen, she took all of the magic from the students and imprisoned us deep within the school.

About an hour ago, she revealed herself as Rimordia the Great Deceiver, whatever that means. Despite the situation, it was pretty funny seeing the look of anger on her face when she realized none of us has ever heard of her before. It ceased being funny when I realized that Daphne was missing. I remember seeing her not long before Rimordia's take over, but I can't find her anywhere now. I guess all I can do is wait and hope the witches and heroes are able to break through the barrier she put up.

Thoren's Pov

I paced in Saladin's office for about the thousandth time. I was beginning to leave scuff marks on his floor. I was pacing so much, but Saladin didn't say anything about it. Headmistress Griffon was annoyed by it, but she kept quiet. Everyone in the room seemed annoyed, but if anyone said anything, I would probably deck them. Hell, I could kill someone right now and no one would blame me since my WIFE is MISSING!

Griffon used one of her spying spells to locate all of the students and teachers that are now being held captive by the impostor, and we counted all of them but Daphne. No one knows where she could be and I am dying from worry.

"What now?" I hear Sky ask Saladin and Griffon.

"I'm not sure. Before we do anything though, we need to find a way to get the students and teachers of Alfea out of her grasp, then we can deal with her head on." Saladin sighed.

"I propose we form a portal to the room where the hostages are being kept and take them all out and-" Suddenly, the door to Saladin's office burst open, cutting off Griffon, but it was a great interruption.

"Daphne!" I ran to the door and wrapped her in my arms. "Are you okay?" I whispered in her ear.

She simply buried her head in my chest and nodded her head slowly. The room was silent for a moment, and then Griffon moved towards us.

"Daphne, what happened?" She asked.

Daphne moved to look at Griffon, but she was leaning on me heavily. "The impostor, Rimordia is her name, stole all of the students magic and sent me here to give you a list of demands." She held up a piece of paper.

Saladin took it and read it over. He sighed deeply and looked over all of us. "She wants us to surrender all of our magic to her in exchange for all of the students and teachers. She also wants us to surrender all of our weapons to her and surrender unconditionally to her. Also, she wants us to send Daphne back with our answer."

I instinctively pulled Daphne closer to me, as if I could keep her from going back there. She was already exhausted, and from what I could tell, she must have walked from Alfea all the way to Red Fountain.

"I have to go back…" she whispered to me.

"No you don't, we can send someone else." I looked into her sad, brown eyes, and knew there was something else to it.

"If I don't go back, she is going to hurt Roxy." She stammered.

Bloom's Pov

It has been two days since I returned to the pack. The girls and I are beginning to figure out how to control our powers in our new forms. It's been slow, but we are working it out quite well. Flora can place her paw on the ground and plants will grow around her. Stella can make her fur shine brightly. Aisha can form some morphix bubbles and is working on a long staff she can bite down on. Musa can make small sound blasts. And Tecna can zap things with small bolts of electricity. I can set myself on fire and form small dragons.

The brothers and the pups know about our powers and love to watch us practice, but they are very wary about us when we test our skills. It is very tiring using our powers in this form, so we often sleep afterwards. When we figured out how tired it made us, we began to practice in shifts, so the pack is still in fighting shape.

"Another long day of work behind us." Stella huffed as she lied down beside me.

"mumph" I mumbled, half asleep, I must have worked too hard.

"I get the point. See you tomorrow." Her voice faded in the background.

I opened my eyes, but couldn't see anything. A thick fog surrounded me, blocking my vision. I stood up slowly and squinted my eyes. I was in a small cave, and there seemed to be a tunnel in front of me. I took a step forward and noticed that something was off. I looked down and nearly had a heart attack. There was no bottom of the cave. I was standing on water.

"Don't be afraid." A voice called to me.

I whipped around only to hit my head on the ceiling."

"Careful. It is pretty cramped in the mirror." A beautiful, silver wolf chuckled.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am the wolf in the mirror. Most call me Lupus though." She smiled softly.

"Why am I here?"

"Because I wanted you to be." I was beginning to get annoyed with her simple answers.

"That's not good enough." I snarled. "Why have you taken me from my pack?"

"Because I am curious." Her response made me stop.

"What are you curious about?" I asked.

"About what you will do after I show you this…" My vision faded into a battle field. I recognized the specialist uniforms and several witches battling monsters at Alfea. I looked around and realized that I didn't see any fairies. Not even the teachers.

"What the?! What is going on?" I yelped as a shadowy monster fell right in front of me.

"The impostor has made her move. She siphoned all of the magic from the fairies and summoned an army of shadows. Cloud Tower and Red Fountain have teamed up to save the fairies that have been imprisoned at Alfea. Now what are you going to do?" Lupus' voice asked.

"I am going to gather the others and stop her!" I snarled, a new sense of urgency was coursing through my body.

"But what about them?" Suddenly, the scenery changed and I was looking down on Nook, Dust, and the three pups sleeping peacefully in the den. "They know nothing of your world. Is it right to abandon them for humans?"

"They are my friends! How could I not help them?" I growled.

"But they are humans. It has become obvious that you and your friends will not turn back for a long time. You may never turn back by this point. Is it worth going through that pain? Knowing what you know now?" It felt like she was mocking me.

"Yes. My sister teaches at Alfea. My friends are at Alfea. My boyfriend is fighting at Alfea. I don't care if we aren't the same anymore. That will not change anything!" I raised my head.

"So you would abandon the pack?" The look she gave me made me want to bite her.

"No. I will ask Shade and Snow if they will help us. They will understand!"

"Fine. Go to your human friends. I hope you all come back. I didn't." She scoffed.

"Wait, What?" I was about to ask her, but I jolted awake before I could.

I looked around to see all of my pack sleeping around me. Faragonda was standing watch tonight.

My pack. Stella, Aisha, Flora, Musa, Tecna, Faragonda, Nook, Dust, Amber, Ice, and Night. How could I leave any of them? But I have to… I have to save Alfea. We all will want to go, but will shade watch over for them?

"Something wrong, Bloom?" Flora mumbled, still half asleep.

"Yes. Wake the girls and get Faragonda. Leave the youngsters to sleep. They don't need to hear this."

Once the others were up, I took them outside and told them everything that happened. All of them agreed that we needed to leave as soon as possible. Everyone agreed that Flora and I should go to the pack immediately so we could leave in the morning.

Flora's Pov

Bloom and I raced to Shade's camp as fast as we could. When we reached the border, Bloom howled for Shade to meet her as soon as he could, so he was waiting for us at the base of the camp.

"What on earth could you possibly want at this time of night?!" He snarled.

"We need your help." Bloom began "Some old friends of ours are in serious danger and we need to get to them immediately, but the cubs have nothing to do with it. Neither do the boys. I can't drag them into a fight that isn't theirs and will get them killed."

I was surprised at Bloom's bluntness, but it seemed to hit the alpha hard. "When will they arrive?"

"The rest of my pack will be here soon. My beta and I ran ahead to ask for your help."

"One question though… what would you have done if I said no?" Shade gave us a suspicious look.

"It was our only choice. If you had said no, we would have left without them and the older boys would look after the cubs." I answered him.

"Two young adults looking after three pups all under the age of one? Would that have been wise?" Snow, who had come up behind Shade and settled down next to her mate, asked.

"No, but there would have been no other choice." Bloom sighed. "Thank you for accepting to take care of them, also, before I forget, I wish to talk to you about something, Shade."

Bloom and Shade moved to a quiet part of the camp alone and spoke quietly for a while.

The others got here shortly after, and we said our goodbyes. Nook and Dust were a little hurt that we didn't trust them, but they both agreed that the three would be a little too much to handle. The pups though, weren't so understanding. They threw an absolute fit and made it even harder to leave. We had no idea when we would be back, or if we would be back at all. We may be seeing them for the last time.

We left Shade's pack and headed towards the mountains. Once we crossed the mountain border, Faragonda opened a portal to Magix. When we came out on the other side, we could hear the conflict at Alfea even from where we were.

"Okay girls, we have been out of the picture for too long. This might as well be a final battle, so be ready for the worst." Bloom began. "Now, let's go save Alfea!"

Bloom threw her head back and howled as she was surrounded by fire. One by one, the rest of us followed her lead, each of us being surrounded by our own individual magic aura.

When we concluded the howl, Bloom lowered her head "Now, let's do this." And she surged forwards, toward Alfea.


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Sky's Pov

I can sum up what just happened in four words… All hell broke loose.

We tried to sneak into Alfea to rescue the hostages, but we ended up interrupting Rimordia's summoning spell that was bringing thousands of Shadow monsters from a portal. It might be a good thing though, since we stopped her from summoning more of the foul monsters, but there was already hundreds of them.

We were forced out of Alfea's halls and into the court yard, but none of us were giving up. Many Red Fountain students were dating, friends with, or somehow related to Alfea students, and while the witches normally don't like fairies, all of them agreed that Rimordia was too powerful and dangerous to keep around.

We have sent several people back into Alfea to attempt to locate the exact room that all of the students and teachers are in. I think the only good thing that has happened today is that we kept Daphne from going back to Alfea by locking her in a room with Thoren guarding the door. I feel bad for her, she must have been through a lot, but it is for her own good. Besides, what would Bloom think of me when she found out that I let her sister go to a dangerous place? She would have my head when she got back! When she gets back…

If she comes back. A small voice in my head whispered my unspoken fear. All of our unspoken fears. Every one of us specialists were fighting as hard as we could. For our Girlfriends' school.

Even though we were fighting hard, we were losing badly. There was just too many of the little beasts.

Suddenly, I heard a howl. Several other howls joined the first. One by one, the howls grew louder and more powerful. All of the fighting had stopped, both students and monsters alike were looking around, trying to locate the source of the howls. We didn't need to look for long though, because seven massive wolves launched themselves over the gate and land one after another, like a waterfall of fur.

The lead wolf was red, black and gold with fire licking up her legs. The one to her left was light brown and tan with green floral patterns around her legs and face. There was a silver, older wolf to her right with white markings that almost made her look like a ghost. The wolf that was next to the silver one was yellow with orange markings shaped like stars on her legs and face and a single, light blue moon under one eye. Another, darker brown wolf had blue markings that reminded me of flowing water on her legs and face. The wolf standing next to the dark brown one was pure white with yellow markings that looked like a circuit board on her face and legs. The final wolf was a blue black and grey fur had violet markings that looked like music symbols on her face and legs.

Could it be? No way… Is that, the Winx?! The wolves surged forwards, taking out the closest monsters. With one snap of their powerful jaws, the monsters disappeared in a puff of smoke. There was a cheer from all of the students and all of the monsters hissed and charged at the wolves.

The red one, Bloom, lifted her head and let out a fiery blast from her jaws. Several creatures were incinerated instantly, granting her another cheer from the fighting witches and specialists. The yellow one, Stella, lowered her head as several glowing spheres form around her. Suddenly, she snaps her head up and the small balls of light turn into spears that flew at the creatures at an unbelievable speed, destroying the monsters on impact.

Bloom flicked her ears slightly and moved her head. The wolves split up and darted to different parts of the court yard.

Aisha's Pov

Flora and I rushed up the steps and barreled through a wave of monsters. The two of us were supposed to find the hostages and get them out safely. It should be pretty easy, Flora is a good tracker and we already know this school like the back of our hands. We ran through the winding halls for a short time, and them Flora stopped.

"I caught a scent… It's Daphne's!" She said, with her nose close to the ground. "It's old, but I think I can smell others with it as well. Come on!"

I followed her to a back room with several large creatures guarding the entrance. Flora snarled a warning and I stepped forwards threateningly. The creatures charged us. I focused my energy and formed a morphix staff. I bit down on it and struck out at two monsters, destroying them easily. Flora slammed her paw on the ground and vines began to grow. The vines wrapped around the other creatures and squeezed until the monsters exploded in a cloud of purplish smoke.

"Now… onto the next problem…" Flora sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked my best friend.

"How are we gonna open the door?" I looked at the door which had a round doorknob.

"…Sometimes… I feel like the universe is against us." I glared at the stupid thing.

Tecna's Pov

Musa and I raced to stop some of the bigger monsters that were about to crush some witches. Musa stopped to take in a deep breath, and let out a sound blast that nearly knocked me off of my feet. The blast wiped out two of the monsters and the witches waved at us in gratitude. I charged the last one and bit down on its ankle armor. Metal. Perfect…

I sent a blast of electricity through my teeth. I smiled as the monster spasm in pain, and topple to the ground defeated by a single blow.

"Okay, what's next!?" I growled, looking around.

"Maybe the giant one over there?" Musa looked at the massive creature that was about to swallow a literal handful of witches.

"That's a good start." We rush over to the monster.

I begin to assess the situation. I can't shock it because it is in contact with the witches, and Musa can't use her sound blast because it is holding the witches too close to its body. I suddenly have an idea.

"Musa, blast behind its right knee!" She does what I say and I bound up its back. I make my way up to its face and bite its throat. It howls in pain, dropping the witches and moving its arms towards me. I let go and jump down to the ground as it smacks itself in the face with both hands, basically destroying itself.

"Wow, Tecna… Sometimes you scare me with how smart you are." Musa ran to my side.

Stella's Pov

Bloom, Faragonda, and I ran to where the impostor was fighting Saladin and Griffon. None of us were exactly sure what to do, but we had to help in any way possible.

When we finally got there, we realized that we would have to do something fast, because the headmasters were getting their rears handed to them on a silver platter. The impostor, Rimordia, was about to launch a final attack against griffon, but Bloom jumped in front of it. I watched as Bloom was thrown to the ground, and I raced to her side. Incredible… she knocked out Bloom with one hit!

"How much magic did she steal?!" I whined, but Faragonda stepped forwards.

"You tricked me into getting turned into a wolf, take over my school, and now you have stolen all of my charge's magic… YOU WILL NOT LIVE TO REGRET THIS!" Faragonda roared.

I have never seen the woman so angry before in my life, and I have seen her angry before.

"I'd like to see you try, you old dog!" Rimordia scoffed.

How dare she call her a dog! I'll show her what us dogs can do! I jumped up and lunged at the woman, my body engulfed in a veil of light. I crashed into something and was repealed. I landed hard, then a strong blast of energy hit me hard from above, and I lost consciousness.

Flora's Pov

I cringed as Aisha slammed her staff into the door for the thousandth time. This is painful to watch. We tried using magic, but there is a spell on the door that deflects other spells, we tried ramming it, I fumbled with the doorknob for a time before getting frustrated and giving up, Aisha even tried making a morphix hand to open the door, but it didn't work.

Suddenly, a strange shiver came over me.

"Woah, did you feel that?" Aisha visibly shuttered and looked at me.

"Yeah. Something happened to the others! Come, we can get them out later, the others may be in serious danger." I ran outside with Aisha hot on my tail.

When we got outside, I saw Bloom and Stella knocked out on the ground. Faragonda was putting up a good fight, but she seemed tired. I howled a battle cry and slammed a paw on the ground. A massive tree sprouted under the impostor, taking her by surprise. She flew up out of the way, but I manipulated the tree to surround her as Aisha and I bounded up it.

We bounded across the branches and attacked Rimordia together, using our speed and superior maneuverability to keep out of the way of her attacks.

"Stupid mutts!" the traitor threw a spell at the base of the tree, setting it on fire.

"Jump off!" I called to Aisha, but it was too late. The tree was weakened and began to fall. I managed to jump off and out of the way, but Aisha was wasn't so lucky and became trapped in the mess of burning branches.

I jumped in after her and found that she had become trapped under a large branch. She was unconscious, probably from the fall. I pulled her out of the mess and to safety, but I completely forgot about one thing.

"Now you can just go Join your friend!" Rimordia laughed and launched an attack at me.

I was too tired to dodge, and even if I did, Aisha would get hit instead. I flattened my ears and allowed myself to be blasted into darkness.

Musa's Pov

I felt a shiver run down my side just as I blasted another giant monster. I looked to Tecna, who nodded her head, and we took off towards the others. A large tree was burning in the court yard, and near it lay the rest of our pack. Faragonda stood over them protectively. Defending the others while Saladin and Griffon took up the fight again.

I felt an anger rise up in me and I let loose a sound blast that hit the impostor square in the back. Tecna bounded over to check on Faragonda, who was blankly staring at nothing. She must be exhausted. She had multiple wounds and one of her eyes was half shut. Just seeing the senior of our pack like this made me angrier, and I'm sure Tecna felt the same way.

"You will pay for this!" I growled and ran at the impostor.

"Foolish dog!" she threw an attack at me, so I threw up my sound barrier, but it didn't work. The blast shattered the barrier and sent my flying backwards. I landed hard on my back and felt all of the air from my lungs whoosh out all at once. In my mind, I tried to get up, but my body was not listening.

"Musa, no!" Tecna raced up to Rimordia, fangs bared and crackling with energy.

With a wave of her hand, Tecna was hit with a devastating blow that slammed her to the ground.

"Goodnight, pathetic dogs." The woman laughed.

"Tecna…" I whimpered as I fell into darkness.

Faragonda's Pov

My vision was hazing over and my body hurt all over, but I could not give up. I cannot fall. My students need me to stand strong this one time. No more letting others take care of the dirty work. Even if an attack exceeds my limits, I will at least need to try. For years now, the Winx have been on the forefront of many life or death battles. But not this time. This time, I am at the front lines. I will defend my students, my coworkers, my school, and my pack.

Using my magical senses, I was able to locate the impostor's exact location. She was looming over Tecna's limp body. I could sense all of them. Bloom, Stella, Aisha, Flora, Musa… My entire pack was out cold on the ground. This only fueled my determination. I MUST GET RID OF HER NOW!

I launched an attack at the Impostor's back, but then everything went wrong. The Impostor must have seen my attack, because she cut through it with an attack of her own. I gasped as something hit me in the chest. I collapsed onto the ground. I felt my eyelids become heavy, and a numbness began to spread over my body. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. I barely felt something press down on my neck.

"Goodbye, Headmistress Faragonda." A far away voice whispered.

Something hit my head, but I was too far gone to feel its full effects. I unwillingly fell into the dark abyss.


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Bloom's Pov

"I told you that you might not come back." That voice… It's Lupus again. What does she want now? "What are you going to do now, Alpha Bloom?"

Her words just brushed past me, I was too angry at myself to take her words to heart. "I should have done something more. I was knocked out before I could even face the stupid woman!" I scolded myself.

"Oh how right are you, but I can't really say anything about it. I did the same thing when I was younger." Lupus sighed.

Suddenly, a light shined from somewhere far away. It was too misty to make out details, but it looked like the shadow of a human.

"I need to go for a while, but if my guess is right… I'll see you on the flip side!" Lupus smiled and disappeared.

I opened my eyes slightly, and closed them again due to the bright sunlight.

"Bloom? Can you hear me? Bloom, please wake up. Please." Sky's voice reached my ears, and I finally looked up. Sky was holding my head in his lap and silently crying. I whimpered softly and licked a tear from his cheek. "Oh, Bloom! For a second! I thought it didn't work!"

"What didn't work?" I asked.

"We called on the Mirror of Lupus to heal you guys." Sky explained, motioning to the other guys holding their respective girlfriends as they woke up one by one.

"Why would she do anything for you?" I muttered.

"Because we freed her from the cave after she turned you all into wolves. She said she would grant all of us one wish. Brandon called on her from the mirror, but the first time we asked, she said she would need to by physically here to heal you. Brandon used his wish to get her here, and Timmy used his wish to undo the damage done to everyone who was injured during this fight. She isn't exactly happy with him at the moment since he bent the rules about asking for multiple people to be healed on one wish, but we're just happy it worked." Sky explained.

I looked around and see that the others are on their feet. I stood up and begin to assess the situation. Saladin and Griffon were back at it with Rimordia, keeping her attention off of us. There were less monsters now, and all of the students were fighting back harder than before. The Mirror of Lupus was observing the situation from a little ways back, she seemed exhausted. Something was off though. Someone was missing.

"Where's Faragonda?" I asked him.

A sad look crossed over Sky's face. I look a little ways past him and my heart stops. There she is… The silver grey senior of our pack… Dead, right in front of me.

I let out a low whine and inch over to her. My entire body seemed to be giving out. Looking down on her frail frame, I realized for the first time, how old she was. I collapsed beside her and buried my face in her fur. One by one, I felt the others fall down beside her. Touching her soft fur for the last time. Wishing that she would look up at us with her sweet smile and warm presence.

"What are we going to do now?" I whimpered.

"Boys." The mirror spoke. "You can ask me to return the stolen magic. I am not telling you what to do though."

Things seemed to go quiet. "You. Can. Do. WHAT?!" the guys yelled simultaneously.

"Yeah. I said it. Now hurry up and do the thing before I decide to take it back." She snapped.

"Who is gonna take this one?" Sky asked.

"I will," Helia stepped up. "Mirror of Lupus, I wish that all of the Magic that Rimordia stole was returned to their original owners."

We all turned to the mirror and waited for her to do something. The Bronze wolf stood with the mirror pointed at the Impostor. A bright light shone out of the mirror and enveloped Rimordia.

"What the?! What is going on?" Rimordia hissed, but then she spotted the Mirror. "No… No, you can't!"

She tried to get away from the light, but it wasn't working. The Light seemed to form a barrier that she couldn't escape. Suddenly, the spirit in the mirror, Lupus, jumped out of the mirror and phased into the woman. All of the magic Rimordia stole seemed to be forced out by Lupus' presence.

All of the magic spiraled around in the air for a moment, and then flew into Alfea, returning to the students. I wanted to smile, but I didn't have the energy. I looked over at the guys, who were cheering. This was a major win for all of us.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Nex yelled as Lupus returned to the mirror. "Mirror of Lupus, I wish all of the monsters would return to their own realm!"

The bronze wolf nodded its head. It released the mirror, which began to hover above the ground, threw its head back, and let out the most powerful howl I have ever heard. All of the monsters began to freeze in place, and then turn to dust. All of the dust then collected into one giant mass, and collapsed in on its self.

All of the students fighting against the creatures cheered. This entire ordeal was almost over. Despite losing most of her powers, Rimordia was still very strong, and was matching Saladin and Griffon blow for blow. I got up slowly. It's time to end this madness once and for all. The dragon markings on my side burned with all of the might of the Dragon fire, burning through my coat and fueling my determination.

"RIMORDIA!" I howled, charging up my attack.

The impostor turned to me with a devious grin, which turned to a look of horror as she saw what I was doing. A massive fire dragon formed around me

"Dragon's Fury!" I unleashed all of my power at once.

A blinding light came over me, but I heard Rimordia scream out in pain, telling me that my attack hit its target. When my vision cleared, I saw Rimordia on the ground. I grinned and walked over to her.

"Your reign of terror is over. Give up." I loomed over her.

"That's what you think!" She grabbed at my throat and I felt her try to steal my magic. That was a big mistake on her part. My wolf instincts took over and I bit down on her arm. She cried out in pain.

"I think I know what my wish will be." Roy said suddenly. "Mirror of Lupus, I wish that Rimordia no longer had the power to steal magic."

The bronze wolf picked up the mirror as it began to shine brightly again. The light wrapped around Rimordia, and a dark, purple force came out of her chest and disappeared into the air.

"What have you done to me?" Rimordia croaked.

"All of your power against these people are gone. You have been thoroughly defeated." Lupus said.

"No. NO! I will never be defeated!" She began to scream.

Suddenly, Griffon hit her with a sleeping spell. "That's quite enough of that!" She grumbled.

Sky's Pov

I watched as Cordatorta cuffed Rimordia and carried her over to the Omega guards who were waiting to take her away. Bloom and the girls were still mourning Faragonda, but now all of the Alfea teachers and students were mourning with them as well. Daphne and Thoren came here a little while ago. While Daphne was happy to see her sister again, she was still sad that she was still a wolf. Roxy is still upset that she wasn't able to help, but there was nothing she could do.

The Mirror of Lupus was watching the scene quietly, but then Bloom walked over to her. She spoke into the mirror for a while, then she looked over to me. She said something to the mirror, and then walked up to me.

"You haven't chosen you wish yet?" Bloom asked me.

"No, the one thing I wished for is impossible." I rubbed her head softly. "Why do you ask?"

"Can you do me a favor?" I nodded my head."Can you wish for Lupus to be freed from the mirror?"

"Who's Lupus?" I asked.

"Lupus is a wolf whose spirit is trapped in the Mirror of Lupus. She is trapped in there and I want to free her." She explained.

"You want to free the spirit that turned you into a wolf?" I asked, incredulously.

"She also helped beat Rimordia and she told me that you needed help. She may have turned us into wolves, but she does not deserve to be trapped in there forever." Bloom sighed. "She has been through a lot."

I looked at the mirror, who was back to looking at the others mourn Faragonda, and then back to Bloom. "Fine." I sighed, smiling softly at her. I don't know what Lupus might have gone through, but I trust Bloom.

"Mirror of Lupus, I have decided what I want to wish for." I called to the bronze wolf. "I wish the spirit wolf, Lupus, was free from the mirror." I declared.

I watched the shocked expression of the wolf turn to one of joy. The silver wolf jumped out of the mirror and materialized into a solid form. Bloom ran up to and greeted the wolf happily. The wolf, Lupus, turned to me and gave me a wolf smile.

"Thank you." Lupus said, her voice was hoarse.

"Your welcome, Lupus. No one deserves to be trapped in a mirror." I said to her.

The silver wolf nodded her head, and then walked over to Faragonda. The wolf bowed her head quietly.

"When I took her memories, I saw how much good she has done in all of her years. She still has much to do…" Something seemed to dawn on the wolf.

"Mirror of Lupus. After all of these years, I have finally decided on my wish." The wolf declared. "I wish to trade my life for Faragonda's."

"But Lupus-" Bloom began, but the silver wolf cut her off.

"Bloom. I was born a wolf. I lived a life longer than most wolves, and then was cursed to live an even longer one. My pack is gone, and I have had a good run. She is a human, and a fairy none the less. She has many more years to live."

"But what about Shade and his pack?" Bloom countered.

"He is a good wolf, but I am tired. So tired. It is amazing to be out of that mirror, but it would be much more satisfying making up for something that I have done wrong. Let me do this one thing, as thanks." Lupus finished.

The bronze wolf walked up to Lupus and the mirror shone a light on her. Everyone made way for Lupus as she walked up to Faragonda. She touched noses with the old wolf, and we watched as her life force transported into Faragonda's lifeless body.

Suddenly, Faragonda's body began to glow. Lupus collapsed onto the ground, all of her life drained out of her. When the light faded, we all gawked at what we saw.

Instead of wolf Faragonda, Human Faragonda was sleeping on the ground, covered in a silver and grey wolf pelt. She opened her eyes, and blinked slowly. She sat up and looked around… and then was tackled by several people and wolves.

Everyone cried, and laughed, and all of the winx howled with joy.

It took a while for everyone to calm down again, but that was when reality hit. Faragonda was human again, but the Winx were still wolves. All of us guys were standing near our girlfriends, but all of them were focused on Lupus.

"She gave her life for me. I never even knew her…" Faragonda whispered, her head hung low as she knelt next to the wolves.

"She wanted to make up for what she did to us, and she did that tenfold." Flora whimpered.

Faragonda took in a deep breath, and then stood up. She looked around the courtyard and smiled.

"It brings me so much joy that all of you came to our aid and fought to save the students and teachers of Alfea. Thank you all from the bottom of all of our hearts." Faragonda motioned to all of the witches and Red fountain students.

"So, what now?" I asked Bloom as all of the students and teachers returned to their schools.

"We need to go back to our territory." Aisha said.

"Wait, no! You all remember now. You can stay here with us." Roy cried.

"No, we can't. There are more than six of us in our pack. We have taken in several others, and we can't abandon them." Flora nodded her head.

"But, maybe you can bring them here." Helia knelt down and looked flora in the eyes

"That isn't fair to them, and it wouldn't be right for us either. We are wolves now. Even being around you guys feels strange." Tecna added.

"But…but…" Timmy stammered.

"Boys." Faragonda came over."You need to let them go. Would you like it if you were kept from your family and placed in a cage?"

"But they wont be in cages!" Brandon retorted.

"Not real cages, but they won't be happy." Faragonda knelt down and Bloom touched noses with her. "I will open a portal not far from Shade's pack. Just tell the others that I passed away happily. I don't want the pups to wonder why I didn't come back to visit."

Bloom nodded her head, and looked to the others. "Come on, we have been gone long enough. Lets get back to our pack." Her voice was thick, but strong.

Faragonda opened a portal, and the wolves jumped in one by one, looking back at us one last time. Bloom was the last to go through, and when she looked back to me, she looked so sad.

"Sky… don't wait for me." She said, and then she jumped through the portal.


	28. Epilogue

Epilogue

Bloom's Pov

Snow flew by as I chased down our prey. Flora flanked me on my right, and Night on my left. This was going to be our last hunt with the pups, who are now full adults. Nook and Dust are also going to leave us as well. Nook and Amber have failed miserably at hiding the fact that they are mates, and Amber and I have been butting heads more than usual. I knew from the day I met her that she was born to be an Alpha, but I am not old and dead yet. I asked Snow about what I should do, and she reminisced about all of the pups she had to force out of the pack because they posed a threat to her, her mate, and her pups. While I don't truly see Amber as a threat, she is beginning to challenge my every move and even challenged Flora. Flora easily put her in her place, but she is concerned as well. No matter how hard we try, we aren't a normal pack. We don't have a breeding alpha pair, no seniors, and no pups. The younger wolves are rightfully anxious and more than ready to move on.

I motioned for Dust to go for the deer's legs, and then looked to Nook to assist his brother. The two moved in perfect sync and tripped up the deer. It was no surprise that Dust was going to follow Nook and Amber, but it was going to be sad to see him go.

Dust and Nook easily tripped the stag, then Amber and Ice came into play. They jumped in front of the deer and kept it from getting up and running again. That's when Night, Flora, and I jumped on the deer. I jumped on its back and sank my teeth into its neck. I then flicked my ear, motioning for Amber to help me. She gladly jumped forwards and helped me finish it off.

"Nice job guys, this is the biggest Stag I have ever seen!" Stella yipped as she pranced over to us in her usual happy manner. The others followed her eagerly. Ever since the pups became adults, we haven't had to hunt daily or keep a steady supply of food. Snow suggested that my beta and I do one last large hunt with the youngsters before they leave, and I have to say, it is really a good idea.

We all settled down and began to eat, but problems soon arose as Amber began to pull an alpha act on the others. She snapped at Tecna who apparently moved to close to her share, and Tecna quickly put her back in her place. I shot Nook a look and he nipped Amber's side. I wasn't that hungry, so I finished eating before everyone else. I moved away from the carcass, and settled down by myself to think on all that will happen tomorrow. Amber, Nook, and Dust will be forming their own pack, and Ice and Night will be leaving as well to find their own pack. The rest of us have agreed that we are going to leave our territory and head into the mountains. We no longer have need to stay in a territory since we don't have pups and we are more used to our wolf bodies.

"Bloom," Flora came up to me. "Its time."

I stood up and walked back to my pack. I looked over my pack, and began to feel pride rise in my chest.

"Nook, Dust, Amber, Ice, and Night, I can not express how proud I am of how much all of you have grown since you first joined our pack. Nook and Dust, you came with us after your father took over your prior pack, and now, you are forming a pack of your own. Amber, while you may be young, you are strong and work well with your mate and his brother. I wish you three nothing but the best, and I know you will raise your pups well." Amber seemed a bit surprised that I knew, but her face softened as she took in my words. "Ice and Night, when we first found you and your sister, you were all so small and dependent on this pack. Throughout the years, we all have watched you grow into strong, and independent wolves that your mother is most certainly proud of. I hope you find everything that you are looking for in your travels."

The five of them walked up to me and began whispering their goodbyes. The rest of the pack joined in, and for the last time, shared stories of the day.

"Bloom, everyone…" Amber's voice was thick. "I know none of us have made it easy for you guys, and I know I speak for all of us when I say thank you. Thank you for putting up with us and making us the wolves that we are today."

After a very emotional goodbye, we watched as our former pack-mates leave. It was sad seeing them go, but then again, they were heading to good times. They were going to make great memories, meet new friends, and build their own families from the ground up. I exchanged glances with my friends, and saw the emotions I was feeling reflected in their eyes as well. I nodded my head, and we returned to our den for what will be the last time. Tomorrow morning, we will leave for the mountains, and we will never come back.

The girls and I all bunched into the den, wrapping our bodies around each other for security and warmth. Winter will make the move to the mountains hard, but I know that it will be okay as long as I am with the girls. My pack. My family… I buried my face in the mass of fur and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up freezing cold. Something hard was poking me in the back, and I felt something heavy covering my body. I sat up, stretched, and looked around.

"What the-" I gasped.

Sky's Pov

It's been two years since Bloom and the other girls left. All of us have tried moving on, but… the wounds still feel fresh. I still dream of the sad look that Bloom gave me when she left. It felt like my heart was being torn out. I'm sure she was hurting too, along with all of the others, but they still left. They wanted us to be happy, but how can we be happy knowing that we won't be able to spend the rest of our lives with our loved ones?

Neither Roy nor Nex confessed to Aisha, Stella supposedly was going to go on a vacation with Brandon the summer after they became wolves, Timmy and Tecna were working on several inventions together, Musa was apparently going to go on tour around earth as soon as school let out, Helia was going to PROPOSE to Flora, and I promised to spend more time with Bloom since my kingly duties keep my schedule pretty full most of the time. All of us had so many things to do with them… but none of us could have guessed that this would happen.

Faragonda has been hit hard as well. She lived with them for all of that time. Faragonda actually keeps the pelt that once was her fur in her office and Daphne says that she often sees her gazing at it when she thinks no one is around. Not long after the girls left, Faragonda actually erected a statue of Lupus, the wolf who revived her, in Alfea's court yard. It is supposed to stand for all that she did for us, but Roxy has told me that everyone is reminded of the Winx and how they left.

I wonder how they are doing nowadays? I probably should quit wondering that. It just makes it harder to move on. I certainly shouldn't think about that today, especially since we are holding a party in honor of the Winx and all of the good that they have done. We should be celebrating the girls, not moping around like this.

"Hey, Sky" A voice startled me, I turned around to see Roxy walking over to me. "How are you doing?"

"Okay, I guess. Better than last year, for sure." I looked into my cup and swirled the liquid inside it.

"That's good. Why are you out here alone? The other guys are looking for you." She said.

"Oh, they are?" She nodded her head, and I followed her back into Alfea.

I greeted the guys and halfheartedly joined in their conversation. As I began to input my opinion on the relations between Solaria and Eraklyon, something bright flashed in the corner of my eye. I whipped around to see that a portal had opened in the room.

"What the? Who could that be?" Brandon said.

I was about to speculate on who might have been this late to the party, but all words escaped me as six familiar women wrapped in large fur pelts stepped through the portal.

"Hey, Sky." Bloom's shaky voice made tears well up in my eyes.


	29. Tale of Lupus

Tale of Lupus

Lupus' Pov

"Lupus, to the right! Blane, take the left!" Alpha barked orders to our pack as we chased down our prey.

I may be getting on in years, but that doesn't mean I can't feed my pack. I bolted towards the Stag and snapped at its hooves. Sure this might not be the safest task in the hunt, but I would rather be kicked than a young one just starting to really serve the pack. It's the least I can do for the wolves who took me in when I was thrown out of my blood pack.

I was apparently too much of a threat to the Alpha female of my blood pack since I was not her daughter. As soon as I turned two, she personally chased me out into an exile that lasted six years. And for those six years, I searched desperately for a pack that would accept me or at the very least a mate to keep me company. When I did finally find a pack that would let me in, it was only because I was too old to pose a threat and was willing to do the dirty work to keep youngsters out of danger.

I have already outlived many of my pack-mates, but I still have so much to give to them. I can work harder than most because my death won't affect the pack much.

I jumped ahead of the deer to surprise it, but it was the one to catch me off guard instead. It threw its head up and hooked me with its antlers. I was thrown high into the air, only to come crashing down onto two of my pack-mates. The wind had been taken out of me, and all I could do was lie there as the two youngsters struggled out from under me.

"Lupus, are you okay?" I recognized the voice of Shadow, the beta of the pack. All I could do was nod in response.

"Thank goodness." Another voice, Heather whimpered and touched the side of my face.

"What in the world did you two think you were doing?" I struggled to my feet. "You two could have been hurt!"

"And you could have died. When are you going to realize that your live has more value than just doing Alpha's dirty work?" Shadow reprimanded me.

"Lupus, you don't have anything to prove. Just give it a rest." Heather brushed her shoulder against mine and I begrudgingly leaned on her.

The two led me back to the den and I dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. I had defiantly broken a rib or two. Star, a wolf in our pack who's well versed in herbs and remedies for illness, rushed over to me and began to check me over.

"Lupus?!" I heard Alpha call for me, and he didn't sound happy. I struggled to my feet, but was forced back down again by Star and Heather.

"Yes, Alpha?" I whimpered.

"Where were you? I needed you for this hunt!" He demanded.

I was about to answer, but Shadow beat me to it. "I took her home. She is hurt and I was worried for her."

"I don't need my beta to worry about an old outsider who nearly ruined a hunt." Alpha snarled, and I lowered my head shamefully. "I needed all three of you for this hunt and you just abandon your positions? Not a good thing to do, my beta…"

Alpha had turned his attention to Shadow, but our beta was not easily intimidated by anything. Shadow stood his ground and looked him evenly in the eyes. "Alpha, I value our pack members more than a hunt. We are not starving. We are fairly well off for a pack this big, so your bullying of a senior wolf that YOU took in is unnecessary."

Shadow had him there, but Alpha took his words as more of a challenge than anything. "I knew you would do this one day, but I didn't think you would do it over something so foolish." Alpha snarled.

It took Shadow a moment to realize how Alpha had taken his words, but to my surprise, he didn't back down. Shadow placed himself between me and Alpha and flattened his ears. I couldn't bring myself to watch the two fight over something so silly. I buried my head in my paws and tried to block out the sounds of the fight.

After the dust settled, I lifted my head to see something I didn't expect. Shadow beat Alpha. Heather and Star yipped happily for Shadow, but Alpha was shaking with rage.

"You have led this pack through favoritism for too long. I have beaten you and claim the title of Alpha. Leave this territory and never come back!" Shadow commanded.

The former Alpha had no choice but to do as he said, but not quickly. He took his time walking away from the camp. By this time, our other pack-mates had returned to the camp and watched in shock as the dark male slipped away. A new chapter was going to begin for all of us, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen.

The Next Year

"Lupus? Are you awake? Come on Lupus, you promised to tell us a story!" The tiny yaps of demanding pups drew me from my midday nap.

Shadow has taken Heather as his mate and during the spring, she gave birth to five tiny, energetic, pups. They were the pride of the pack and the bane of my existence at the same time. When Shadow took over, he named me and two other older wolves elders. Apparently, elders are retired hunters who teach their tricks to the newer generations. I was a bit unhappy at first. I still felt like I had so much to give to my pack, but I have gotten used to it. The other two elders passed on a while ago, though, and since the hunters are always out, the pups have decided that I am an easy target for their pestering.

It is annoying as hell, but they are pups, and none of us can stay angry with them for long. "What do you yips want?" I growled.

The pups doubled over, yipping happily. They knew I was just playing. "You promised to tell us a story today when the sun began to fall in the sky!" Shade, the youngest pup barked.

I looked up at the sky to see the sun was just below its highest. I let out an exasperated sigh, and then chuckled. "You pups do realize I meant when it began to get dark, not just after midday, right?"

As if on cue, they all tilted their heads to the side. "Pups, are you bothering Lupus again?" Heather called out to her litter from her watch.

"No mum, we aren't!" Sand yipped. The five small devils charged over to their mother, telling her of how sundown was actually near night, and not right after noon. I smiled and pulled myself too my feet.

"Are you going somewhere, Lupus?" Alpha Shadow asked, walking up to me with the rest of his hunting party.

"Out to stretch my legs. Don't worry, I won't go far." I answered.

While it was nice being an elder, it was terribly boring. I love being around others, but sometimes, I just need a little walk all on my own. I was a lone wolf for six years after all.

"Lupus…" A voice called my name. I perked my ears up towards the mountains. "Lupus." There it was again! Without thinking, I dashed forwards, towards the mountains where the voice seemed to emanate.

It was a longer run than I expected, but after some time, I found a cave near the base of the mountain. I let out a single bark, trying to hear how far it will go in the cave to judge how deep it went into the mountain side, and from what I could tell… it went far. My instincts told me to leave, to stay away from the cave, but then the voice called again.

"Lupus." It was much louder this time. I was so close.

Against my better judgment, I entered the cave. It was a long walk down the dark tunnel, but the farther I walked, the louder the voice got. I was exhausted, but someone, or something, could need help.

At the end of the tunnel, I was met with nothing. There was nothing in this cave. I cursed myself for coming this far away from the pack, but there wasn't anything I could do now. I turned to leave, but something was blocking the exit. It was a massive, bronze wolf.

After the shock wore off, I began to snarl at the creature. It was blocking my only way out, and I needed to get out. I tried to dart around the massive creature, but it dropped something in front of me. The thing looked like a sheet of ice, perfectly reflecting my image back to me, but it wasn't ice. I have never seen anything like it before.

"I have something you want." The voice I was following seemed to emanate from the ice thing. Its words stirred my curiosity, but panic was setting in. I lunged at the thing, but suddenly, my reflection changed. "Look and realize what you desire."

I felt my blood run cold as I watched the scene unfold in the mirror. A bear was attacking my pack. It was much larger than any of the bears I have seen before, and something about it was off. It was much more aggressive and appeared to be out for blood. Wolf blood to be precise.

"Let me go! I need to get to my pack! They have ever fought a bear like this before." My whimper turned into a snarl.

"I can give you the power to stop the bear." It angered me at how blunt the thing was about this entire situation. Pack is family. Does this thing not have a family?

"How?" I lowered my voice, trying to keep calm yet threatening at the same time.

"Come closer." The image in the ice changed again and in the place of the bear, an old, tan wolf stood.

I didn't want to do it, but anything that could help my pack was good in my eyes. I walked up to the ice thing and the wolf stretched its neck until its nose touched the ice. Without thinking, I moved forwards and touched my nose to the cold surface as well. A sudden rush of energy shot through my body and a blinding light flashed in the cave.

I had forced my eyes closed to protect them from the light, but what I saw when I opened them was surprising. The tan wolf was no longer in the ice, but we seemed to have switched places. It took me a moment for the dread to set in. The tan wolf smirked at me as I looked over my body.

"I suggest transferring your soul to the bronze wolf instead of keeping it in the mirror. You will have a better range of motion that way." The wolf laughed.

I knew what he had done, but I still couldn't believe it.

"You'd better hurry if you want to save any of your pack-mates from the bear." Anger coursed through my veins. Without thinking, I lashed out. The 'mirror' smacked the wolf in the side of the head, shattering his skull on impact.

I didn't care that I just killed a fellow wolf. I didn't care that I was now trapped in a bronze body with my jaws clamped over a 'mirror'. I just wanted to get home.

I charged through the tunnel and bounded down the mountain. The only good thing about this entire situation was that I was now twice as fast. Another good thing was that my old bones felt good as new. I felt like I could run forever and not get tired. I haven't felt this good since I was two years old!

I barreled into the camp like a stag and locked onto the bear. I tried to open my mouth, but I still couldn't let go of the mirror, so I did the next best thing. I swung my head up and the mirror smacked the bear, hard. It roared in annoyance, but as soon as it looked at me, it cowered in fear. Yes, my new body is intimidating, but I was not expecting this at all. I jumped at the bear, but stopped short of actually attacking it. It took off. If it had a longer tail, it would have been tucked tightly between its legs.

I looked around to my pack mates. So many were injured… There were several unmoving bodies among the rubble of the camp. I could hear the whimpers of pups and looked to see Heather standing over her litter. Snarling at me.

I could feel my heart break into a thousand pieces at the sight of my now broken family. I would not be accepted here any longer. I backed up only to step on something soft. I whipped around to see Shadow, our mighty alpha, dead on the ground.

I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and ran back to the mountains. This bear was going to die for what it has done. If only I knew that my hunt would yield no results for three, long, years with no results. I would have given up much sooner.

Years later

Life in this bronze body was terribly boring. I couldn't eat or drink. I was almost three times smaller in my normal form, so for the first few years, I bumped into everything I walked by. Every living thing cowered and ran away from me as I moved through the mountains. Even the birds refused to sing as I slept in the warm sunlight.

Sometimes, though, I get a bout of activity from some humans trying to steal the mirror. I figured out the mirror was magical some time ago, but most of its magic eludes me. I can walk in the dreams of others, grant wishes for those who impress me, and even turn those greedy humans into wolves. I just wish I could use that magic on myself.

Because of my new boring life, I take pleasure where I can get it. I chase prey animals to get that familiar thrill, I watch my just turned wolves panic in unfamiliar areas, and I have recently begun to visit the dreams of the wolves I turned and who have regained their memories just to toy with them. I am much more callous that I used to be, but hey, at least I am doing something.

Present day

I never imagined the day that I would be free of the mirror would ever come. So many times, I wished to trick some poor pup to free myself of the mirror, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't subject another to this loneliness. Not after I experienced it firsthand.

I bounded out of the mirror, completely ecstatic, but then a thought hit me…

I can't go home.

My pack doesn't exist anymore. All of my friends are either old or dead, the pups probably don't remember me, and that territory has been abandoned for years.

These thoughts weighed heavily on my mind before I realized what I wanted- no, what I needed to do. The only thing that will reunite me with my pack.

"Mirror, I wish to exchange my life for the life of this elder." I motioned to the silver, grey, female who sacrificed herself for her pack.

The mirror shimmered lightly as I thought of the tan wolf again. I have come to find out that he spent his final days feeding a young bear cub live wolves in an attempt to intimidate others to trading places with him. He finally succeeded when he targeted my pack rather than me directly, but his freedom didn't last long. I killed him not five minutes after his release. "Heh. You and I are gonna have a similar end, huh? Only your end was in blood. My end will come with life."

I touched my nose to the old female and felt my body grow cold. Her body began to change as my life began to end. "At least you will be normal again after this mess."

My body fell to the side, and my eyes closed. I could hear Bloom and her pack near me, yet far away. They were thanking me and celebrating the revival of their friend. I smiled slightly. At least they are happy.

"Lupus. Where have you been?" I jolted up at the sound of Shadows voice. I was no longer at that fairy school, but back in our old territory. The familiar sight of my pack mates brought tears to my eyes. "Come on, we can't start the hunt without you!"

I jumped up and ran to meet my family.

I had been going back and forth about making this story for some time now, but hey, It's Christmas, so why not? I really wanted to give Lupus some more depth in the chapters, but her story never really fit in the chapters, so I have made an extra chapter to explain some things. And before you ask, yes, the bear is the same bear Bloom killed. Also, Lupus' pack once lived where Bloom's pack moved to, and they moved again once Shade took over as alpha to where they are during the story.

Just to clear up some loose ends, the winx turned back once they didn't need to be wolves anymore. The pups grew up, and the brothers left to build their own packs, so there was no reason for them to stay as wolves.

And just to make this clear. This is it for Mirror of Lupus. There is nothing more I can add to this story nor do I want to add anything. My first Fanfiction is officially over.

-Echo


End file.
